“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
(which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).”
Matthew 27:46
Many of us have asked a similar question, maybe even have said these exact words.
Pain is excruciating, complicated, and relentless. It doesn’t care who it is holding just that it is holding. It doesn’t care whose life it is ruining, whose life it is traumatizing, or whose future it is altering. Pain is all-encompassing and exhausting.
A few people, seem to flutter by with very little experience in pain. Despite a significant tug of jealousy, however, these people can feel as though they have never really swum in the deep end of life. The majority of us, however, have been chucked in the pain tornado like a mobile home; with ease and almost eagerness. While we hang on to the past with white-knuckle-gripped fingers, it releases like a shallow rooted plant to the slightest pull. Though we don’t want to embrace pain, it holds tighter than a four-year-old giving an “I love you” strangle hug.
Pain is clever and unexpected. It comes to steal, kill, and destroy all that it is in its path. Pain tears apart friendships, destroys souls, and breaks hearts. Pain is awful.
As Jesus hung on the cross, he experienced excruciating pain. His body hung in agony and his heart burst from misery as he became the sacrificial lamb, fully carrying the weight of humanities sin. In Matthew 26, Jesus is quoting David’s words in Psalm 22:1. Heartbreaking, fearful words. We see that Jesus’ actions are the fulfillment of God’s plan and of his Word.
Encouraging to us, in 22:24,
“For he has not despised of scorned the suffering of the afflicted one;
He has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.”
God was still listening to Jesus. This is comforting news. No matter how far we go from the Father, he never stops listening. There is never too much sin, or pain, or sorrow that he doesn’t want us to turn to him.
Finally, Psalm 22 ends with the best words,
“They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!”
From before the creation of the world, God’s plan has been life. He breathed life into humanity not once but twice. So, when we are flooded with pain, sorrow, sin, or stress and cry out to God the words of Jesus, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”, God is listening. When we feel abandoned, disheartened, or confused, God is listening. The Father is listening.
Be encouraged my dear friend, whether whispering or screaming, he is listening to your every word.
