God with you

Lets call her Mary, when I first met her she was just leaving a 10 year marriage after continuous cheating, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse and physical abuse, the last incident had been so terrifying that she actually at one point thought she was dead and watched the whole thing from outside her own body.

The only thing she remembers thinking through it all was "where are you God, please let this stop" in essence the same meaning as Christ on the cross calling out to God why He has forsaken Him Matthew 27:46 but just as Christ was not forsaken or in a sense because Christ was not forsaken neither was Mary, because Christ on that day took part of all our suffering he now also is with us in our sufferings.

And on that horrible day Mary wasnt alone either, there was a presence of God with her in the midst of her husbands terror and violence, a presence she now describes by that watching from the outside was a feeling of God having lifted her up from the violence, carrying her through her nightmare.

God´s promise to be close to us in Psalm 34 is very real, He is always near when evil is done and He will save us from the crushing effects of violence.

The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit

Psalm34:18 NASB

Whilst we might go through suffering and pain He is still close to us as He was with Christ and Mary sharing  in their pain , so He is also sharing our pain.

Mike Petersen