When pondering Christ’s statement on the cross—”Father, why have You abandoned me?”—apparently God had not told Christ ahead of time that such a moment would be INCLUDED in His Son’s cosmic comprehensive work of redemption. Perhaps, at least from our limited human perspective, it may have frightened Christ to experience it, having never been separated from His Father from eternity past—not for one moment.
Note that Christ didn’t say, “I HURT; I am in physical agony.” Apparently this moment of emotional abandonment was so searing it trumped His physical pain, which was considerable. Yet his next sentence was: “Into THY hands I commend My spirit.” This was like Job, who declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” The Lord didn’t go in search of a different god, a different answer. Thus He further proved, in His final moment there, His own unwavering faith—a final perfection of the expression of His infinitely holy character. ‘Tis an amazing juxtaposition of two sentences. ‘Tis an amazing appendage to an already huge work.
We can deduce from this that our personal emotional agonies are of great importance to God. Parental churnings are no exception. When we suffer the outer edges of parental agony in prayer over attempting to establish the kingdom of God in our children, we do, in microcosm, what God Himself does. “God, do you even hear my prayers?” may be the very treasure that He is garnering from our adult lives. Note that we ask such a question at the foot of HIS throne, not somewhere else.
Parent, your agonies are heavenly luggage—heavy for now, but, do not be surprised if they are resplendent upon your arrival.
