Abandonment

The painful experience of being forsaken, which even Jesus endured on the cross: 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Matthew 27:46, quoting Psalm 22:1). Isaiah 49:14-16 addresses Israel's feeling of abandonment: 'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast?... Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.' Psalm 27:10 promises, 'Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.' Deuteronomy 31:6 assures, 'He will never leave you nor forsake you.' God uses the experience of human abandonment to deepen dependence on his unfailing presence.