When we feel abandoned and alone, and God seems absent from us
We all have those moments in our lives when we feel as though God is absent, even perhaps nonexistent. Those times leave us feeling alone and abandoned, as though we are lost in an empty stadium. We feel as though we are on a boat that has been set adrift without an engine, floating further from shore, and heading to an uncertain future.
Such occasions in our life journey are not unlike those early days, while we were still toddlers, when mom would be holding our hands, while dad would be reaching out to us, but feet away, urging us to take our first step. We were not in any danger, but we certainly didn’t feel that way as we felt mom’s hands separate from ours. We felt fearful, vulnerable. We felt as though we were going to fall, yet our dad’s outstretched arms were reaching out, offering the security that we always had, yet encouraging us to stand on our own, taking the first steps into Independence.
God is like that with us. Those periods of time when He seems distant, even perhaps a fictional being, are moments when He is actually closer to us than our own breath. These are the moments God is drawing us out of ourselves, and into communion with Him. His outstretched arms are there, even though we don’t see them. These moments strengthen us, and enable us to have a mature relationship with God, not unlike the mature relationship the child develops with his parents, after taking those first steps, alone.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Saturday July 13, 2019 / June 30, 2019
4th Week after Pentecost. Tone two.
Synaxis of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Twelve Apostles: Peter, Andrew, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Jude the brother of James, Simon the Zealot, Matthias.
New Hieromartyr Timothy priest and Martyr Nicander (1918).
New Hieromartyr Theogenes (1939).
New Hieromartyr Milan Popovic of Rmanj, Serbia (1940s).
Martyr Joh (1944).
Venerable Peter the Prince of Ordinsk, Rostov (1290).
Glorification (1918) of St. Sophronius, bishop of Irkutsk (1771).
“Balikin” (1711) and “Gorbanevsk” (1786) Icons of the Mother of God.
St. Andrew, prince of Bogoliubsk (1174).
New Martyr Michael (Paknanas) the Gardener, of Athens (1770) (Greek).
Translation of the relics of the Great-martyr Stephen-Urosh III of Dechani, Serbia (1338).
St. Gelasius of Rimef (Transylvania) (14th c.).
Martyr Peter of Synope (Greek).
Martyr Meleton (Greek).
Martyr Basilides the Soldier at Alexandria (202).
Holy Queen Dinar (10th c.) (Georgia).
St. Stephen of Omsk (1876).
St. Martial, bishop of Lomoges (3rd c.).
The Scripture Readings
Romans 6:11-17
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
Matthew 8:14-23
Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed
14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
Many Healed in the Evening
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”
The Cost of Discipleship
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Wind and Wave Obey Jesus
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
Matthew 8:14-23
Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed
14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
Many Healed in the Evening
16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
“He Himself took our infirmities
And bore our sicknesses.”
The Cost of Discipleship
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Wind and Wave Obey Jesus
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
Peace…..I agree there is a tiny space between feeling or being abandoned by God and when He comes. It’s through giving up much of ourselves that this space is created for Him to fill more and more. I remember that Jesus asked, “My God My God, why have you abandoned me?” I think it was to teach us about this space. I also am reminded of the story of the apostles in the boat during a storm and Jesus came by walking on the water. Only when they called out, did he stop and come toward them. We too, must call out!
Thankyou for this lovely article and God bless!
Maria, I hadn’t been able to get any clue about that part of the Crucifixion until reading your post. Thank you.
I wonder if the times, today, are like the situations spoken of by Father Tryphon and yourself.
Christopher: Yes it does seem to fit in very well to today, but also all generations. The Scriptures are for all times. We just need to read and meditate on them. God speaks to our interior very deeply so we need to shut out more of the noise and distraction to hear what He is saying to us. *Fr Tryphon may have an additional reply.
God bless!
Maria, I hadn’t been able to get any clue about that part of the Crucifixion until reading your post. Thank you.
I wonder if the times, today, are like the situations spoken of by Father Tryphon and yourself.