‘LEFT, BUT ONLY FOR A MOMENT’
Bishop Reginald Doby
In many lives of persons across the globe there are those who suffer from abandonment, and these are individuals who struggle due to their sense of loss or connectionto something or someone. There
are various forms of abandonment, i.e. relationship breakup, betrayal, persons who were adopted or raised by someone other than their biological parents, etc. Anxiety is one of the stressors in the life of one suffering from abandonment, causing them
to feel isolated, thrown away and fearful which are embedded deep in the recesses of their mind and emotion.. We have all experienced it truth be told! Abandonment can also be perceived as ‘I’m not loved anymore or did they ever love
me’. It’s this loss of love itself, which is critical to being connected.
Children of God have
also experienced the heart wrenching pain that shattered theirexistence when the realization of, and for whatever reason, God turned His back on the bride [church] and left her there by herself. Those who have been abandoned may or may not ever be
reconnected with the one who did the abandoning; but for the purpose of this writing let me share with you the bride (church) who at times of feeling all alone were forsaken (abandoned) by the one True God of this world but, this same God, the Holy
One of Israel will also redeem the church because of His Love; His Grace, and His Mercy.
Every now and then people
will do something that is not in accordance with the rules or that which is contrary to the instructions given, and children of God are no different. People when they receive correction is given it is sometimes ignored; therefore when things don’t
work out the way they are suppose to, there is too often an expectation from the person or persons who did not follow the rules or instructions that God will fix it and all will be okay because God has got their back. All they have to do is call,
and He will be right there to straighten out the mess they made. I beg to differ, God is not an enabler, He does not promote behavior that is not inline with what His Word says or what he purposes, plans, and commands of us to do. You
see in the book of I reference Isaiah 54:7 (NKJV) 7 "For a mere moment I have forsaken (abandoned) you, But with great mercies I will gather you.
Do observe abandonment by God is not without merit or justification, we can not keep doing what is against God and expect Him to not allow
us, to see the error of our ways by being out there all alone and what it is to be without Him near! A parent can instruct their child in the ways of life and warn them of the pitfalls, however the child must heed to the teachings and wisdom of the parent,
but if not heeded the parent must pull back and allow the child to experience the parent not being there to pick up the pieces or clean of their mess, enabling them to appreciate the importance of following their teachings or the bottom line being obedient.
The child of God can appreciate what is written in Isaiah 54:8-10 (MSG) 8 In an outburst of anger I turned my back on you— but only for a moment. It's with lasting love that I'm tenderly caring for you. 9 "This exile is
just like the days of Noah for me: I promised then that the waters of Noah would never again flood the earth. I'm promising now no more anger, no more dressing you down. 10 For even if the mountains walk away and the hills
fall to pieces, My love won't walk away from you, my covenant commitment of peace won't fall apart." The GOD who has compassion on you says so.
Oh how good it is to know even though we have been abandoned, our Redeemer comes back to a contrite heart and a repentant spirit and lets us know that His love, His kindness, His mercy for us will not be removed,
the mountains and hills may be gone, but He will not, for He will love His bride with an undying love. So if God in His love and mercy has committed not to abandon us, let us not abandon Him, for if we do; it comes with a great and eternal price; that price
is eternal separation from Him, and that will be complete and total abandonment not by Him, but by us of Him!