Faith Forsaken

Luke 23:44-49
In Luke's account of the crucifixion Jesus calls out to the Father, committing his spirit into his hands, yielding his spirit unto death (vs. 46).  He breathed his last.  If we turn to both Matthew and Mark's accounts of the crucifixion, they offer us a few more details that, when brought into this account, offer us an intense glimpse of faith.  Matthew (27:46-50) and Mark (15:34-37) tell us that Jesus cried out to the Father, asking why he had forsaken him, and then cries out again some time later, yielding up his spirit.  We are told here in Luke what the second crying out was: committing his spirit to the Father.  At the moment just after Jesus loses fellowship with the Father, he commits his spirit into his hands.  What faith!  There is no sense of the Father's presence, no gaze falling upon the only begotten Son, no oneness or unity, only darkness, for the first and only time ever.  And at this most desperate and direst of moments is when Jesus fully surrenders himself to God unto death.  He does it without emotion or feeling, simply trusting.  Is this not the kind of faith we all must have (James 1:6-8)?  Paul wrote that God was leading him to Jerusalem, not telling him what awaited him there aside from suffering and hardship (Acts 20:22-24).  Paul did not have to see what lay ahead or have more details and plans, for he knew that God awaited him wherever he went, whether he felt it or sensed it or not.  Jesus offered himself up unto death when God had forsaken him.  How much more confident can we walk blindly knowing God will never do that to us (Hebrews 13:5).  Why must we have more details and more confirmation upon confirmation and guarantees of safety or success before we go out?  Why do we wait for some type of anointing or feeling or maturity before we are willing to strike out not knowing where we are going?  Is this not our flesh, our human understanding jumping in to offer bits of earthly "wisdom"?  Some kind of promise that our flesh seeks to ensure its own vitality?  And yet we are told that only in faith is God pleased (Hebrews 11:6), not in our figuring it out and playing it safe.  And not even is he pleased in our going if not in faith.  Our lives have grown too valuable and important to us, therefore faith affords us little, for God's promises are spiritual in nature, not carnal guarantees.  Paul was able to walk blindly into suffering because he knew his life to be of no value apart from his following and fulfilling God's set purposes in his life.  Jesus too was able to offer his spirit at the darkest of moments since he knew the reason for which he had come (John 12:27-28).  They trusted in a sovereign God and his plans and will, not in the value of their own lives, which allowed them to walk in faith.  If we continually await for guarantees and confirmations before we walk, we will never walk.  All God has promised is to accomplish his will, and honor and provide for those who are dedicated to the like.  Our lives are instruments of glory in the hands of a sovereign God; instruments of death otherwise.  Let us yield our lives up in faith to God, even in the most  desperate of circumstances, for he has promised to guard and keep what is his, and to never forsake us.  Even Jesus did not have this guarantee.