“Separation from God” by Reva Lachica Moore
(Written in 2008)
Three-year-old Reagan tightly held my hand as we walked out of the restaurant. Reagan looked at me and smiled as if to say she was happy for our visit. Her father Justin and sister Ryleigh, 5, were with us. A heavy downpour earlier had left puddles in the parking lot.
As we walked to the car, the rain started up again. Holding Ryleigh’s hand, Justin ran toward the car. I held onto Reagan and walked quickly when suddenly, Reagan stepped into a puddle, stopped and started shrieking. I picked her up with her shoes all wet and ran to the car. Inside the car, Reagan continued to shriek uncontrollably.
“It’s OK, Honey, let me take off your wet shoes,” I said and started to remove her shoes.
But she shrieked even more and wouldn’t stop. I asked her father what could be wrong. I also asked Reagan why, but she continued to cry. Sobbing, Reagan looked at me and said, “Daddy was leaving me!”
Little Reagan thought that when her father and sister were running to the car to get out of the rain, they were leaving her.
Fear of Abandonment
There’s nothing worse than a child’s fear of being separated from or abandoned by his or her parents. To a child, a parent is everything. Instinctively, a child looks to parents for love, protection, comfort and support.
The fear of separation from a loved one, especially a parent, is just as awful in older children. I will always remember that heartbreaking moment of my late husband Edwin’s death. My son Adam, 18, and I hugged tightly and wailed for the longest time at the hospital hallway with Adam stomping his feet and asking me, “Mama, why did God allow this to happen? Why? Why?”
Fear is one of the earliest emotions that man had experienced. In the Garden of Eden, when our first parents sinned, fear suddenly engulfed them. A sense of having done something wrong came to them; they feared that God will abandon them, as recorded in Genesis 3: 8 – 10.
Undoubtedly, SEPARATION and FEAR are linked together and happen one after another. As in the case of little Reagan finding herself separated from her father, fear suddenly gripped her. Likewise, our separation from our Heavenly FATHER causes our fears.
So, what causes our separation from God? Our sins. Our sins put forth a wall that creates a sense of estrangement between God and us. God has put in us a desire to worship Him, but it is easy to doubt if God really cares about us because we do not see Him, touch Him and hear Him. But the good news is: We may forsake God but He will never forsake us.
A few days ago I received terrible news from my friend, Charles. His son, Joel, met a terrible accident. Joel drowned after saving his young son, Joseph who fell into the Snake River while vacationing in Wyoming. Joel’s body was recovered 4 miles downstream after 6 days of intense search. What love! A father’s love for his son! Joel sacrificed his life to save his son.
God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to bridge the separation between God and mankind. Jesus Christ took onto Himself all of the judgment due us for our acts of willful sin. In His compassionate act of mercy, Jesus took all of the punishment due us onto Himself.
Charles wrote: “It hurts a lot losing my son. I kept asking the Lord for three days after the accident, “Where were You, Lord, when my son Joel was drowning? Why didn’t You save him?” God finally answered me, “Charles, I was in the same place when they killed my beloved Son. You know, I lost my Son, too, for you and all of the family.”
Likewise, at that time when my son Adam was asking me, “Mom, why did God allow Daddy to die?” That very moment I felt how God felt when His only Son Jesus had to die that horrible death on Calvary’s cross to save you and me.
How scary it would be to be separated from God. Do you feel separated from God? Then seek Him and hold onto Him. Remember…Jesus left the comfort and glory of heaven to enable us to come to His presence always.
Jeremiah 29:13 says…”You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”