Feeling like God loves you and cares about you is easy when everything is going your way. On those days when doors that seemed closed forever suddenly open, it’s easy to praise God and thank Him for being in control of your life.
But what about the days when you are struggling deep down to see any glimmer of hope that your circumstances will change – where is God then? What about when weeks, months, even years go by, and you haven’t seen your prayers answered? Do you feel like God has abandoned you?
If you think, “God does not care about me,” you’re in the right place today. I wrote this post with precisely you in mind! 🥰
Sometimes, I feel like God has abandoned me and does not care about me
I know you can nod along in agreement when I say that the Christian life is one that is lived by faith. Think back to when you first realized you were a sinner in need of a Savior. Try to recall that day when your eyes were opened to the truth of the gospel, and you were convicted of your sins. Do you remember where you were? What other details of that day can you recall? Think about this for a minute.
If you’re unable to pinpoint the exact day you believe your identity changed from non-Christian to Christian, that’s okay. You probably have an idea of about when it happened. Think back to the times surrounding when your conversion may have occurred. Can you recall what your life was like before you understood what the true gospel actually was all about?
I asked you to think about these things because I believe it’s important to get down in the dirty yuck of our lives before Christ in order to help us get out of the pit called, “God does not care about me.”
Notice earlier I used the phrase “true gospel.” Imagine that you and I are sitting across from each other, enjoying a time of friendship and fellowship. We’re sitting outside on a beautiful day with the sun shining on our faces; everything is perfect. And then I asked you a question, “Tell me what the true gospel is?” How would you answer? Would it come rolling off your tongue, or would you fumble through the words to get it out? Would you feel confident in your ability to tell me what the true gospel is?
I’m here to encourage you and spur you on to good works! And if we aren’t passionate about what the gospel is and what it means, I believe it’s going to be super easy to feel like God has abandoned you and that He doesn’t care about you.
I get asked a lot about how I stay so excited and on fire for God. And if I had to sum everything up and give a short, succinct answer, it would be because I understand the gospel. Not the false or prosperity gospel that’s thrown around sometimes, unfortunately, even in Christian circles, but I’m talking about the true gospel as it relates to Jesus Christ being the way of salvation.
So, just so we’re on the same page, allow me to briefly share this true gospel. Because some of my audience members are brand new Christians, and some are just reading and watching from the sidelines and haven’t yet taken that first step of faith. For those of you who are mature in your faith, we know that the gospel is the reason for living, so we never tire of hearing it!
Most women have heard the term, The Good News, as it relates to Christianity. The gospel and the good news are basically the same thing. If we think through this logically-if there’s good news; then there must be bad news somewhere along the line, right?
What’s the bad news, and what’s the good news?
What does this have to do with the fact that I feel God doesn’t care about me?
The bad news is that we were all born into this world as sinners.
Not one of us ladies stood a chance to enter this world as a sin-free baby girl. Everything about us is sinful. And EVERYTHING about God is holy. Uh-oh, that’s a recipe for disaster, right? So, what exactly is holiness?
Holiness can be a difficult thing to grasp because it’s not something we can ever possess or achieve. God is holy and, therefore, must be set apart from sin. His very nature cannot tolerate sin. That’s why our sin keeps us from ever being able to enter the presence of a holy God. Sin separates us from God. So, the bad news is that sinners cannot and will never be able to dwell in heaven with God. We’re doomed to a life of destruction in hell apart from the good news, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9.
Thank goodness there is good news! Especially now that we have a glimpse into the bad news, we can appreciate the good news more.
The good news is that God has given us a way – He’s given us THE Way. Jesus Christ is the way. Jesus declares in John 14:6 that “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” No matter what we think we can do to work or earn our way to heaven, it won’t work. Without recognizing that Jesus is the ONLY way, we are destined for a life of excruciating suffering in hell.
What does it mean when the Bible says that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Go back to the bad news, since we are all sinners, we, therefore, have no hope of eternal life in heaven. We are doomed to die in our sins unless somehow that sin is removed from us. And since we cannot remove our own sin, God gave His Son Jesus. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. That is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross, John 3:16. It was God’s divine plan for Christ to shed His blood so that our sins could be forgiven!
But not only did Christ shed His blood on our behalf, He died, was buried, and arose from the dead. He had to rise from the dead for us so that we could be seen as sinless in the eyes of God. Because He “was raised to life” we can come to the Father and confess our sins and be forgiven. John 14:19 tells us, “…because I live, you also will live.”
And when we do this, God can look on us because Christ paid the price or the penalty. Christ’s perfect righteousness has been imputed to us. Imputed means that it’s assigned to us. It’s ours when we put our faith in Christ as the One who redeemed us from our sins. And, it’s free. Hallelujah – now, that is some good news! 🙌
I understand that if this is new to you, it can be challenging to comprehend why Christ had to die on the cross. Try this. Think back through the Old Testament. Remember how they were always sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of their sins? The blood of innocent animals had to be shed in order for them to be forgiven. All of those animal sacrifices symbolized the fore coming of Christ’s death on the cross.
What I’m getting at here is that God takes sin very, very, very seriously. And if we don’t take God at His Word, think of it this way – you will eternally feel that God abandoned you and doesn’t care about you. We must believe Him. We must trust in Jesus. We must understand the true gospel. Because not only is our eternity at stake, but so are the lives of the people waiting for us to share the gospel’s good news with THEM!
Remember earlier I asked you to think about your life when you first realized who Jesus is? Did you write or recall anything about the fact that you couldn’t believe someone would love you so much to die for you? That God looked down on you and chose you to spend eternity in His presence?
When we feel that God has abandoned us and that God doesn’t care about us, we’ve got to be crystal clear on what God did for us through His Son Jesus Christ.
We need to see what God has saved us from (the bad news). Can you see it? Have you ever thought about that day in the future when you will breathe your last breath here on earth? You’ll instantly be in the presence of God.
Does that bring you fear, knowing that without Christ in your life here on earth, your punishment will be an eternity in hell, with no hope of escape?
Or does that bring you unspeakable joy, knowing that your eternal future will be spent in heaven where there will never be sin? Image never having a bad day ever again-heaven will be eternal joy in the presence of our Savior!
Our circumstances here on earth may be downright dismal. We may have the worst job, the nastiest neighbors, and friends that always seem to be stabbing us in the back. We may honestly feel that God doesn’t care about us. But if we have Jesus, we have all we need. It may seem like we need more, but as a Christian, God promises to meet our needs, see Philippians 4:19. And He IS our biggest need!!!
Just like He meets the needs of the sparrows, you are of more value than the sparrows because you were created in His image (Matthew 10:31, Luke 12:7).
So when you feel alone and that God isn’t there for you – I want you to think about your testimony surrounding your salvation. Can you remember how deeply you were convicted of your sins? Do you understand why God must punish sinners eternally in hell? Has your life been genuinely changed by the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ? Do you understand that you can’t work or earn your way to heaven?
If you answered yes to these questions, then especially when those days come when you feel that God doesn’t care about you, I want you to go back to the gospel.
Reteach (and “re-preach”) the gospel to yourself. I get it, and it can be so easy to forget the importance of all of this when we’re just trying to get through each day. We have so many responsibilities, emotions, obstacles, and difficulties that the saving truth of the gospel can get swept under the rug.
Bills to pay, sick loved ones, and depressing life circumstances are everywhere. These things can weigh us down so heavily that we honestly feel God has abandoned us. But, we’re smart, and we know these days will come, which is why it’s up to us to proactively strengthen ourselves. We walk this Christian life by faith. We believe by faith. We trust by faith. Now, let’s move forward in faith. Onward Christian soldiers.
If you’re anything like me, you are jumping up and down with joy that you’ve been forgiven, that your eternity is secure. And then you fall to your knees, or you fall face first in awe that a holy God rescued you – that He did NOT abandon you. God will never leave you. He’s with you all the time, whether you feel it or not. He truly is always with you. We live by what the Bible says, not what our emotions say. Remember, we live by faith. And that’s our cure to getting out of the ever saying to ourselves, “God doesn’t care about me.”
Before I end our time together today, if we are to help and lost and hurting world, we must be saved ourselves. If you’ve never understood the gospel, or the good news, of Jesus Christ before, and today you are seeing it for the first time, please don’t delay responding to God by placing your faith in His Son Jesus Christ. You must come to Him and confess that you believe that He is.
Here’s what you need to agree with.
You stand hopeless before a holy God because of your sins, Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Jesus Christ died so that you can experience eternal life. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Believe that Jesus rising from the dead is proof that God is the author of life. That God, and God alone, has the power over life and death. That through His resurrection, you can have eternal life. John 11:25, “…I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,”.
If you recognize that you are a sinner, that you’ve disobeyed God, and that until this point, you’ve only desired to live for yourself, you can confess your sins to God right now. You can be saved. Cry out to God that you are sorry you’ve never seen Him as a holy and righteous God before who hates sin. Confess that you’ve sinned and that you have no hope without His Son, who shed His blood for you and was raised to life so that you could be saved. That you truly believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. And, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
If this is the day that your eternal destination was changed because you put your faith in Jesus, I’m so excited for you. 🥰🙌🙏 Angels are singing today just for you! Luke 15:10 tells us that the angels rejoice when just one sinner repents.
Record the details surrounding your conversion today. They will come in so handy as you walk out your faith. And just like I began this post by asking you to recall your stories, you will be able to do the same thing. Let me be the first to welcome you to the family of God!
What if you’re already a Christian though and you completely and utterly believe God will never leave you, but you still can’t seem to shake this nagging feeling like He’s not there with you like He always has been before.
Here’s some questions to ask yourself…
Is He trying to teach me something?
Remember Joseph? Being sold by his brothers to slave traders and ending up in prison. He must have felt very much abandoned by God. “Why did God allow me to get here?”
Or Job. When Job was being tested and God was silent with him.
What about Naomi. She had all but given up on life itself and was just going through the motions when Ruth was working hard gleaning in the field she met Boaz in.
In all those cases, God was trying to teach them something.
He restored HOPE to Naomi through Ruth and Boaz! Through that situation, God showed He did NOT forget her. In Ruth 2:20, she exclaims this about God, “…whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”
He spoke to Job and gave him answers.
Joseph became a very influential person!
All of those things were tests and trials to draw them closer to where God wanted them to be.
While it may have FELT like God was far from them, you can see in the pages of Scripture, He was there the WHOLE TIME, working on their situation even though THEY couldn’t see it! We get a glimpse into God there. He’s NOT forsaken us!
How blessed are we to know that God doesn’t slumber. He never needs a break. He never gets sick and tired of us. He always is there, loving us, and working in the situation even in times when we can’t see He is! How amazing to know these things!!! 😮🙌🎉
Ask yourself…is God trying to teach me something?
Next question…
Have I sinned?
I’m not talking about the kind of sin that we do every single day because we’re human. We try not to sin, but we slip so we say we’re sorry and get up and try again. I’m talking about “Marah”. Marah in Hebrew means rebellious. An indignation toward God. We’ve rebelled, we’re mad at God, we are not submitting to Him and His authority. We are being willfully disobedient.
When we are Marah, rebellious toward God, sometimes He will step back from us. But do not lose hope! Because He is very close to those who genuinely ask forgiveness and try their best to obey.
If you’ve sinned, you can be rightly restored to Christ by admitting you sinned, asking forgiveness for that sin, and then turning from your sin.
Even if you’re not able to do all that yourself, in your own power, ask Him to help you.
Sometimes when I come to Him, I simply say, “Lord, I cannot obey you in the way that I want to. My flesh is so strong and I can’t seem to have power over it. Please will you help me? Help my willing spirit to win over my flesh.”
When I MEAN it, He does it. He is quick to forgive and wants a relationship with us.
This is really important because the Bible says that if we do NOT turn from our sin, we sear our conscience (1 Timothy 4:1-2) and chance becoming an apostate and He will turn us over to our own devices (Romans 1:24; Psalm 81:12). I have in my life, sadly seen someone turned over to their own devices and become an apostate. An apostate is someone who comes to the full saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and walks away. To them, hell is even more of a punishment because they knew better than someone who does not understand much of God. We are judged based on how much we know!
Sound scary? It is! God will not be mocked. He is a fair God (Deuteronomy 32:4) and in order to be fair, like any good parent, He punishes bad behavior that is not repented of genuinely and blesses obedience.
When we are in sin, we cannot feel His presence because He cannot look on sin (Habakkuk 1:13) and so we must be careful to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and make sure it doesn’t lay root in our hearts that we may become Marah…or worse, an apostate.
