Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. -Psalm 9:10

God never forsakes those who trust him. So it is tempting to conclude when we feel forsaken that we have insufficient faith or we haven’t sought him enough. But Jesus himself felt forsaken: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was not because he lacked faith or did not seek his Father’s will enough. Nor was it because his Father abandoned him. It was because the trial he faced, he had to face without feeling his Father’s presence. Sometimes God asks us to face trials where we cannot sense his presence. We feel abandoned. We feel forsaken. He asks us to keep on trusting him despite how we feel. He will not upbraid us if we cry out, “Why have you forsaken me?” If Jesus could ask this question without sin, we can do the same.