“My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me … you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” Psalm 27:8 – 10

Have you ever felt rejected by the very people you were counting on to love you?

At an early age, I was sent to boarding school by my missionary parents. Then at 14 I travelled across the Atlantic Ocean without them to attend high school. That’s the way it was done. The flesh-and-blood absence of my parents affected me profoundly.

Over time I understood Psalm 27 more deeply. As a teenager, while my heart said, “Your face, Lord, I will seek,” it also pleaded, “Do not hide your face from me.” The faces of my family were hidden. What if God hid Himself as well?

Yet God provided other faces to comfort me: the Christian family who parented me for two years; the pastor’s wife — a seasoned social worker who listened and helped me interpret my circumstances; a friend who became a Christian and remains a friend to this day. In this profound co-existence of absence and presence, God gathered me to Himself. 

Have you experienced a rupture or sudden shift in your family? Perhaps a sick parent could not care for you in the way that you needed and so there was neglect. Or your home was riven by divorce. Or addiction stole the attention and resources that should have been directed toward you. Or death descended and a significant caregiver was gone. As painful as these absences are, God promises never to leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 12:6). Although you may not understand the losses He allows, He wants to reveal His presence to you right now (John 14:23) and forever (John 14:3).

Lord God, thank You that You never leave us or forsake us. Thank You that when we ask to see where You were in the past, You show us that You were not standing on the margins, but were at work in the center, gathering us tenderly to Yourself. Help us to accept Your presence even when we feel bereft. Amen.

Take Action

Allow yourself to receive the revelation of how He has been with you. Read Psalm 23 and write down what comes to mind. Then thank Him for His presence.