God is Ignoring You

God is Ignoring You
Aug 23, 2010
Judges 6:13 ". . . "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us. . ."

Gideon and the children of Israel were feeling ignored by God, even abandoned. The Midianites were oppressing them and there was nothing the Israelites could do about it. The Israelites had to go so far as to hide from those who were taking advantage of them and destroying their hard work. Gideon was hiding in a wine press, one particular day, when an angel appeared to him and said, "The Lord is with you." It is interesting to note Gideon's response. He said, "If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about." Gideon spoke his true feelings about God's hand in everything; he felt ignored and abandoned by God when it truly mattered. If God was with him, then why were the Israelites being persecuted by the Midianites? Gideon had the same perspective you and I would have had. We would wonder, "Where is God in all of this?"

Surely, there are times when you feel like God is not with you: those times when others hurt you, those times when you lose a job or a secure family structure, those times when others steal from you. IF God was truly with you, then those terrible, rotten, horrible, no good situations clearly would not have happened. Maybe you've served God and cried out to Him when it mattered the most, but it seemed He ignored you. It seemed as if He did not show His awesome wonders, like He did way back when, for the Israelites out of Egypt. We have all felt that way, and we are in good company with Gideon. Gideon knew what it felt like, to feel like God had left and was ignoring the opportunity to display His wonders.

God is not ignoring you and He has not abandoned you. If you are a child of God and you have called out to Him for help to no avail, it is not right to assume God is ignoring you or has abandoned you. Just because God does not do what you want, when you want it, does not mean He has decided to ignore you or abandon you. For Gideon, God's seeming abandonment was a timing and power issue, based on their sin. It wasn't God's time yet to display His power.

I've had a specific prayer request for seven years now, praying everyday for God to intervene. On two separate occasions I have fasted for three days. On one occasion, I have fasted for seven days, taking no food or drink, other than water. During those times, I PRAYED. But God has still not answered me. God is not ignoring me and God has not abandoned me. On the contrary, God is with me. Christian, God is with you. Even though you don't see God act the way you think He should, it does not mean God has left.

When we complain that God is ignoring us, we are suggesting that God is errantly executing His perfect plan for us and mankind. Check for sin in your life and then wait for God. It is more likely that God has decided an alternative to what you would like to see happen. It is more likely that it ISN'T GOD'S TIME YET! It is more likely that God's perfect plan is different than yours. Go back to Gideon's conversation with the angel. The angel declared the Lord was with Gideon, before Gideon's situation was resolved. The angel didn't say, "The Lord WILL be with you and then your situation will resolve." The angel of the Lord said, "The Lord IS with you." The Lord was with Gideon at that moment and long before Gideon's situation was ever righted. The Lord never abandoned him and God was certainly not ignoring him.

Christian, God IS with you even though your situation is not righted yet. He is not ignoring you and you have not been abandoned. The Lord is with you.

1. What areas in your life seem ignored by God, that need righted?
2. How can you gain perspective on God's perfect plan and timing, even if your situations are never righted?
3. How can you trust that God IS with you, even when you don't FEEL like He is with you?

Don't take my word for it; look it up: Deut 31:8, Judges 6, Ps 9:10, Ps 37:28, Ps 94:14, Is, 55:9, Jer 2:19, Rom 8:28, Heb 13:5