Abandon

“for the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.”  1 Samuel 12:22

Abandon – “Why did you leave me?”  The piercing blade of those words wounded me, cutting through my rationalizations.  I felt only shame.  How often in life do we wish we could go back and prevent some unspeakable tragedy by just being there at the right time?  How often do we have to face the fact that we ran away, protecting our egos or fragile emotions, when we should have responded to someone’s desperate need?  Sin is a community collapse.  When I seek my self, I damage others. 

The prophet Samuel uses the word natash (to forsake or leave alone) to proclaim something we all must hear.  God will never abandon us.  The circumstances of Samuel’s announcement make this promise even more startling.  The people of Israel just committed a great sin.  They demanded an earthly king to replace their heavenly King.  They abandoned God.  God had every right to walk off and leave them to their own disintegration.  But Samuel says that this is not who God is.  Even though in our sin of self-determination we abandon the God who cares, He will not abandon us.  Why wouldn’t God walk off?  We probably would.  God doesn’t turn His back, even in the midst of sin, because of His great name.  That means much more than a label.  It means that God’s essential character is faithfulness and commitment and reliability no matter what the circumstances.  God’s name proclaims who He is.  He does not give up.

I need to know that God does not give up on me even when I commit such great sins as abandoning Him.  I need to know that He doesn’t turn His back on me and walk away in disgust at my selfishness.  I need to know that God is faithful to me even when I am not faithful to Him.  I need to know that I am not alone; that I will never reach the point where I speak the question “Why did you leave me?” to God.

Life’s circumstances are full of abandonment opportunities.  I know both sides of this terror.  I have been left behind and I have left others behind.  My pain has been translated into cruelty.  But God tells me that He will not leave me.  More than anything else in the universe, I need to hear those words.  I need to discover at the deepest levels of my life that I am not alone.  God cares for me.