Never Forsaken

15. April 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:9-10

I remember the very first time I read the word “forsake.” It was late summer in 1996. I had recently graduated from law school. I had taken the California Bar Exam and was anxiously waiting for my results (it’s a five month waiting period).

During that time I was involved in the occult. I had for some years been actively practicing the Yoruba “religion,” better known around these parts as Santeria. During this time, however, I was also at a point in my life where I was questioning everything and its validity in my life. Like everything else I’ve ever gotten involved in, I studied the Yoruba religion and had originally been very attracted to it by the power it brought (miracles I actually received). But because I had always believed in God and believed that Jesus was his Son, many of the practices and teachings never really did sit squarely with me. Still I had remained because of that sense of power it gave me.

In late summer 1996, I slowly stopped attending certain ceremonies and stopped seeking divination. My mother, who was very much involved in Santeria as well, noticed the progressive change in me. I had missed an appointment with the Babalao (Yoruba priest) and mom questioned me about that. I was scheduled to make a sacrifice to my guardian spirit so that he would continue to help me and assure my success on the exam. I explained to her that I had decided that I would not be doing anything until after my results came in. She was very upset and stated to me that if I did not pay tribute and do what I was supposed to do, my guardian spirit would abandon me.

I remember going into my room. I had a Bible on the shelf I had been given some 13 years earlier while at boot camp. I pulled it out and began reading where it fell open in the book of Joshua, chapter 1. Then I read verse 5: “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Coincidence? I don’t think so. So began my quest to find this God I believed in but did not know.

And what an incredible God we have! The Psalm above says “you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you.” What does that mean exactly, to never “forsake”? Well in the Psalm as well as in this verse in the book of Joshua, the Hebrew word for forsake is “`azab” and it means to leave, depart from, leave behind, to let go, to let loose, to renounce. Those meanings alone leave us quite an incredible promise. In the Miriam-Webster Dictionary I found one additional meaning for the word “forsake” which really struck a chord with me: “to give up”.

Meditate on that for just a minute. When we seek God, when we try to discover him, when we search for him, we instantly receive the promise that He will not leave us, abandon us, let us go or reject us. Neither will He give up on us, lose hope in us or stop loving us.

Doesn’t that just blow you away? The promise is ours for the taking.

It is so easy to get caught up with the business of daily living that we put aside what’s most important, seeking God. I am the first to admit to getting too caught up with work, the kids and everything else that I haven’t had time (better said, “made time”) for God. But that has been changing in the last two months. I have made a decision to intentionally seek Him through prayer and through his Word daily. And that, my friends, has made all the difference. As I have drawn nearer to Him, He has assured me of that promise of years ago that He will never forsake me. Won’t you seek Him today?

P.s. I did pass the bar exam that summer and I never returned to the Babalao again.

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