Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Tackling the Spirit of Abandonment

John 14:18 "I will not leave you as orphans: I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

This morning, as I got ready to attack the day, I kept mulling over the above verse. It's in John 14, where Jesus tells His disciples that He's about to go away, but not to worry. He goes on to tell them about the things that they have to look forward to in heaven and talks to them about the true way to show that you love God. Then He reassures them again about His leaving.

"I will not leave you as orphans-"

That was the phrase I kept hearing in my mind. As I stewed, I thought about something. In the world today, there is definitely an "orphaned spirit" or a feeling of abandonment. It is something that a lot of young adults struggle with.

Lying on my bed, staring at my digital clock, I decided to break it down to extreme simplicity. What is an orphan? Now there are some of you saying, "DUH!" and making rude jokes, but bear with me. I'm going somewhere, I promise!

An orphan is someone without:
~A protector
~A provider
~A teacher
~A leader
~A comforter

Do you feel like you are missing a few of these things? Do you find yourself telling yourself "I don't need anyone to look out for me" or "I can take care of myself"? Do you feel like you are lacking direction? When you cry, is there someone to hold you?

I'm not asking these questions to depress you. I'm asking these questions because I want you to think about what Jesus said. He promised that He wouldn't leave you. Even if you don't have anyone to look out for you, you can have Jesus as your source of comfort, direction, provision, and protection!

Verse 20 "Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

Makes you think of a pregnant woman, right? A pregnant woman provides everything the baby inside her needs. The baby is cradled. The baby is fed. The baby is protected. Everything that the mom has, the baby shares in. He gets nourished right when she gets nourishment. I've been told that the baby actually thinks that his mom is an extention of himself!

That is the vision that I have for my relationship with Jesus. He feeds me. He protects me. He cradles me in His arms and dotes on me. Everything that He has, He has given to me. Because He lives, I also will live! And not the "scraping along, making it day to day" living! No! This is the Son of God talking; when He says I'll live, He means I'll live the abundant life!

As I was growing up, I struggled with feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Don't get me wrong, I have GREAT parents. It's just that the devil is real, the devil is a liar, and sometimes he had me conned. So seeing that God was looking out for my welfare had a big impact on my heart. He loved me and He never left my side. There were times when I didn't let Him help me or comfort me, but in the end, my Father always got His message of love through.

I want to leave you with this verse. It's in the same chapter, so if you wanted to study John 14, I highly recommend it. (Even if you've read this chapter a lot, read it again. The Holy Spirit can show you another side of these verses and bless your heart.)

John 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

You are not alone. You are the focus of Someone's love and sacrifice. I'm praying that the Lord will help you to more fully understand this!

Love ya,
Samantha

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you, Samantha. I really needed to see this message tonight. Waiting for God to deliver me from the spirit of abandonment. You are a true blessing,
Barbara

FaithPrice said...

I am 45 years old and the Lord just showed me that I have the spirit of abandonment. Wow, how much it explains about my patterns of thinking I have had for literally my entire life! I can't wait to see how He will free me from the bondage and cause me to fly in Him!

Thank you for your blog!

Anonymous said...

God Bless you and thank you very much

Samantha F. said...

Hey thank you for your comments - it means a lot that someone was touched by something I felt strongly about.

To everyone: Have you ever read the book Abba's Child? It's by Brennan Manning, and was honestly the hardest book I've ever read. I didn't agree with every last bit of it, but there was a LOT of good stuff in there.

Overcoming in this battle can take some determination as well as a willingness to do life differently. For me, it has meant reaching out to others around me and being vulnerable even when I didn't feel like it. I've read books on the topic and I've gotten counseling. I had to work through some issues with a counselor, and then I had to be intentional about building a truly nourishing community. It wasn't easy, but it was very, very worth it!

Again, thank you so much for commenting and I'm glad to hear that God is on the move in your lives! I don't say this unless I actually mean it - I'll be praying for you!

Anonymous said...

I have since age 7 had a crippling fear of cancer. I realize that my father had left me at that age and throughout my life the devil has bombarded with me the fear that i had cancer and i was going to die. It comes out of nowhere and it is crippling. I recently made the connection that it is the spirit of abandonment in disguise...it is brutal. I am asking for prayer for deliverence...i am very grateful for your blog...xoxoxo
Jesus is Lord