Has God Abandoned Us?

So the men of Kiriath-jearim came to get the Ark of the LORD. They took it to the hillside home of Abinadab and ordained Eleazar, his son, to be in charge of it. The Ark remained in Kiriath-jearim for a long time—twenty years in all. During that time all Israel mourned because it seemed the LORD had abandoned them. Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the LORD with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the LORD and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the LORD. [1 Samuel 7.1-4] 

Does it seem like the LORD has abandoned us? 

How would we know if He had?

There is a simple test that indisputably reveals God's blessing. What is is? It is God's blessing. God's blessing sets apart His people from the godless people of the world. If the world is sick, God's people are well. If the world is poor, God's people are rich. If the world is well, God's people are even more well. If the world is rich, God's people are richer.

If God's people today compare themselves to the world, let's just face it, there is no difference. They look the same, act the same, have the same needs, and rely on the same solutions.

All the while, the Bible has for centuries declared God's distinct blessings upon His own.

Sameness with the world says God has indeed abandoned His people.

The thing about deception is that deceived people cannot see that they are deceived. This is the remarkable condition of people who compare themselves to each other instead of comparing themselves to the Word of God. While the Bible declares God's distinct blessings upon His people, it is of no consequence to people who are ignorant of His Word. 

However, when God's people read and understand the Bible for what it actually says, without extra-Biblical interpretation or denominational predisposition, they must conclude that their lives don't match up. They must conclude that their lives are no different than the world - that the LORD has abandoned them. They must conclude that they have followed idols, thus abandoning God. They must conclude that they need to repent and return to Him alone.

God would say to us today the same thing he told Samuel about Israel:

Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. [1 Samuel 8.8]

What makes God's people look like the people of the world? Everything God's people depend on just like the world: debt, insurance, medicine and technology (to name the principle offenders). The Bible is clear that God's blessing is distinguishable provision, protection, health, and even convenience compared to the world. But, there is also another idol that has blinded God's people to the truth of what the Bible says: religion. 

Religion has stealthily crept between God's people and God's Word effectively blinding them to the truth it teaches. For every failure of man to believe and trust God alone, religion offers a consoling partial truth reducing a would-be-believer to sameness with the world. Religion embraces idols saying they are "gifts from God" while ignoring the fact that the world utilizes the same idols in a blasphemous taunt that, in man's advanced ways, he does not need God. Eyes blinded by ignorance of God's Word will never see this despairing discrepancy!

Samuel's story remains forever written in God's Word to reveal that God-abandoned-sameness-with-the-world is God's permanent call to repentance and renewed faith in Him alone. It is an enduring call for God's people to rid themselves of idols paving the way for God's miraculous distinction to be made in their lives. It is the exact same call Jesus made when He said:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Trusting God alone is serious business to God. Jesus only confirmed it. But, if we do not read and know the entire Bible for what it actually says without extra-Biblical interpretation or denominational predisposition, we are hopelessly blinded by every idol we depend on for blessings that God already promised to provide to distinguish those who are His from those who are not.

In the words of the Apostle Paul:

So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. [1 Corinthians 10.14]

Father in heaven, may Your true followers rid themselves of every idol and perceived idol in deference only to You as Jesus demanded. May Your people seek the distinction of Your hand upon their lives in open rejection of sameness with the world. May Your people faithfully return to Your Word in all it teaches specifically understanding that Jesus is Your Word in the flesh. May Your people understand that Your Word is the antithesis to the world and that Your Word (Jesus) is all that glorifies You. So be it.