When the Father remains silent
like He does not hear your cries;
When you feel that He's not listening,
and the hope within you dies ~
When it seems He does not hear you
and you feel He does not care;
When you plead with Him to answer,
but it seems that He's not there...

When you feel He has abandoned you
and left you on the shelf,
When you feel that you're forsaken
and there's no one but yourself...
When it seems that your petitions
have most surely been in vain;
That's the time the Lord is closest
and you feel His deepest pain.

For when it seems that you're abandoned
and you feel the most alone,
You are sharing the same heartache
that our Lord Himself has known...
For Christ also felt deserted
as He hung upon that tree;
Till He cried in deepest anguish,
"Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

" Know ye not that if ye follow
I will lead you to the cross,
There to know the taste of sorrow
and to feel My deepest loss?
For to share with Me in glory
ye must first share in My shame,
And you have to taste My sorrow
if you want to bear My Name."

So don't weary in your praying
when you feel ignored by God,
For it may be He is leading you
where His own Son has trod...
Through the Valley of Rejection
to the tree of Calvary,
He will bid you share His sorrow
if you heed His "Follow Me!"

--Connie Hinnen Cook--