“12 Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’”
When our girls were young, they used to hide things, especially things they didn’t want us to see. We couldn’t be in all places at all times, so there were occasions when the girls could hide things, and we would discover them later, things like food upstairs, spills on the carpet, or destroyed toys. They would hide them because, somewhere deep down inside, they knew whatever they did was wrong and they could be punished for it.
The Israelites were in the same boat. Their whole world was coming down on them, and God was nowhere to be found. It felt like He had checked out and left town. Even worse, they were convinced that He had forsaken the land. Now, “forsaken” means to abandon or cast aside. So in their minds, the Lord had abandoned them and cast them aside.
Have you ever been in that place? Your life is in such poor condition that you’re convinced the good Lord has forgotten you, and your plight in life continues without Him. It’s the reverse of Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” The reverse is a little scary to think about: “I have no shepherd and continue in a state of want all my days.”
Being down and out can drive even the strongest to do some crazy things. It can drive you to a place where it seems as if the Lord is nowhere to be found. This is exactly where the devil wants you to be. It is here that he convinces you that serving the Lord is foolish and stupid, and that if you would just use your own common sense, things would be better.
Ask Adam and Eve, they thought they knew better than God and ate the fruit. You can ask Cain, who killed his brother because his way of doing things was better. How about Samson, who disregarded his gift from the Lord and traded it for the harlot’s love of Delilah? Maybe you could even ask Judas, who used his better judgment rather than submit to Jesus. Peter was also caught up in this, he denied even knowing Christ and left his friends to go back to his old job, fishing.
You are not alone when you are in a tight spot and feeling far from the Lord. The truth is that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is right beside you all the way. You only have to read the book of Psalms to get a real person’s sense of getting close to God. David didn’t even have the New Testament to read, he just found that submitting everything to the Lord was better than doing it on his own or in secret. Just ask him about Bathsheba.
Today, stay close to the Lord and realize He has not forsaken us nor left us. He is only a prayer away.
Prayer: Father, while we hide many things from the outside world for fear of what they would say, you know all things, and still, you sent your Son to die on the cross for our sins. We fully submit to you today in all we do. We turn from our sins. We give you all the things we are hiding. We throw the crowns of this world at your feet, Jesus, and bow in reverence to you. Help us not to hide anything. I pray we will be found praising the Lord in the middle of the storm and on the sunny days. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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