“Have you rejected Judah completely? Do you despise Zion? Why have you afflicted us so that we cannot be healed? We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.” – Jeremiah 14:19

Mother Teresa is Albanian by birth; her original name is Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. In 1948, she became a citizen of India. She received her spiritual training in Dublin, Ireland and Darjeeling, India and she became a nun in 1937. In September 10, 1946, after teaching for twenty years at a high school in Calcutta, India, Mother Teresa received another call from God to serve the poorest of the poor who lived in the streets.

Archbishop of Calcutta Henry D’Souza knows that at times in her life, she felt abandoned by God. He said that in one letter, she wrote that she had been walking the streets of Calcutta searching for a house where she could start her work. At the end of the day, she wrote in her diary, “I wandered the streets the whole day. My feet are aching, and I have not been able to find a home. And I also get the Tempter telling me, ‘Leave all this, go back to the convent from which you came.'” She did find a home and the rest is history. The Missionaries of Charity feeds 500,000 families a year in Calcutta alone, treats 90,000 leprosy patients annually, and educates 20,000 children every year.

Everyone at one time or another will feel like God has abandoned him or her. But do not let the feelings fool you – He is always near. Today in prayer, thank the Lord that no matter what you feel, Christ will always be in your heart.

“It is when God appears to have abandoned us that we must abandon ourselves most wholly to God.” – Francois Fenelon

God’s Word: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” – Psalm 22:1

By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail DEVOTIONS IN JEREMIAH AND LAMENTATIONS pkennedy@devotional.com