I couldn’t help but feel revived and reinvigorated as our pastor by different examples and analogies, expounded on the abiding nature of the Holy Spirit and His purpose in our lives. It was during the sermon that something occurred to me for the first time.
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
(Hebrews 13:5)
This verse in Hebrews is a repeated promise that has carried us through many rough times in life. It's easy to remember, easy to quote, and packed with powerful truth. Sometimes the disadvantage of frequently quoted scripture is that we begin to take it at face value and seldom sit and ponder on the meaning and applicability in our lives.
Today though, I was momentarily sidetracked by the revelation that these words ‘leave’ and ‘forsake’ are not the synonyms that we may subconsciously analyse them to be, in our repetition of the scripture.
Maybe if ‘leave’ and ‘forsake’ were synonyms, then it was probably just a writing style to reiterate the absolute impossibility of God ever leaving us, but it wasn’t.
God through this awesome passage of scripture says that He will NEVER leave NOR forsake.
When we use the word 'leave' it often signifies that it is to go elsewhere or to be absent for a short period, to return. My son is just learning to say “later” and “bye” accompanied by the vigorous toddler wave, which is so cute. However, a few months ago whenever we dropped him off at the daycare he would cry bitterly whenever we were leaving. We eventually learned that it was just a part of his development as he learned the concept of separation. Nonetheless, at the time he couldn’t understand that we were only leaving him for a while and that we would eventually be back to pick him up in the afternoon. Those tears were because, in his mind, our leaving wasn’t merely temporary.
That’s the difference I garnered between the words 'leave' and 'forsake'; one was temporary and the other was permanent. In Hebrews 5, God reminds us that unlike human parents who have to leave to go to work or to run an errand, God never has to leave. Through His Holy Spirit, HE is always there. Moreso, He says under no circumstance, whether that circumstance is of your own doing or not, will He ever Forsake or abandon you. God's words are a promise that when you accept Him by believing in His son Jesus Christ, He is here for eternity. In the flesh, while we walk this earth HE is with us and when we transition to eternal life, He never forsakes.
Apart from the difference in meaning, I believe that the promise that He never leaves nor forsakes does more than emphasise His abiding presence and love. I think they connect with different human circumstances.
For temporary situations, we need to be reminded that God is here with us and that He never leaves. Sometimes, it’s an unbudgeted expense that pops up, a short bout of illness, or a disagreement with a family member. Still, we must be comforted knowing that despite the issue, God is with us (to help and comfort us) because He never leaves us.
On the other hand, some circumstances occur that seem to be never-ending and we may be tempted to wonder where is God in all of it. He seems to be silent or He feels far off because there is no breakthrough, no resolution that you can possibly see, and the nagging thought wants to come into your mind that maybe God has forsaken you. After all, if He were present, the answer would have been forthcoming, the situation would have been sorted and normality would have returned by now. It must be that the silence, the gaping hole of nothingness is an indicator that God has surely abandoned you.
Absolutely, Not! It is in those circumstances, that God is bellowing to His children, the ones who believe in the finished work of His son Jesus Christ, that saved you and brought you into His loving arms, that HE WILL NEVER FORSAKE YOU.
Put differently, if God won’t even leave you, it's impossible for Him to completely forsake you.
What that means in real life, is that God is right there, right here with you. In the darkest of seasons, He is here and through the lowest of the lows, God is right there.
He never leaves, not even temporarily, and HE never abandons. He goes searching for every aching heart, every broken spirit, every crushed dream and whispers into your heart, the reassurance that while everyone else might leave, and though others have forsaken you, God, our Daddy, never leaves and neither can He ever forsake His own.
Love ya!
Krystal Baynes-Hoseinee
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