How do you react when you feel abandoned by God?

Title: How do you react when you feel abandoned by God?

Sermon in a Sentence: When we feel abandoned by God we react in different ways: we can acknowledge that all things will result the way God wants, we can be distracted by our own emotions, or we can become spiritually dead and detached. 

Main Points: Who are you?

• Mary (allows her emotions of mourning to distract her from what is happening around her)
• Martha (believes in the ultimate goodness of God’s plan)
• Lazarus [dead (literally but symbolic spiritually)]

The Word: John 11:1-44

Summary:

In John 11 we read about Jesus' friend Lazarus and his death. Jesus was told his friend was sick and instead of running to his side immediately, he waited until several days after his death. I can only imagine that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus felt completely abandoned by Jesus. After all, he was healing other people and performing crazy miracles (previously in John). If he truly did love Lazarus, wouldn't he have rushed to his side as soon as he heard he was ill?? Well, Jesus being how he is, chose to use this moment as a time to prove that the impossible can be done. He arrived after the point that the rabbis believed the spirit still lingered around the bodies, which was three days after death. He was only two miles away from Lazarus when he heard the news, yet he still arrived four days after Lazarus had died. It seems only natural that Mary and Martha would be angry in their mourning. Jesus was not there in the moment when Mary, Martha, and Lazarus thought they needed him most. We all have moments like this in our lives, when we want to place blame for things not going well, in these moments we feel abandoned. 
In these moments we can react in different ways. Each of the characters in this story react differently too.
Mary stays at home, which was the cultural sign of mourning. She allowed her mourning to distract her from noticing that Jesus had arrived. Sometimes we react the same way. We allow our emotions to overtake us and distract us from the hope that is already on its way to better the situation. If we do not make ourselves more alert, we can miss this hope and become buried in our emotions. 
Martha comes out to meet Jesus. She immediately blames him, just as Mary does when she eventually come out to meet Jesus. However, Martha declares her belief in the resurrection, not realizing that Lazarus was to be resurrected that same day. She showed her belief that there was hope in the future, even though she thought that future was to be a long way off. Unfortunately, sometimes for us that hope might be a long way off, but it is important for us to acknowledge that there is a hope that we can look forward to.
Lazarus is, obviously, dead in this passage. When things do not go well and we feel abandoned we might stop believing in God altogether, this is not an uncommon reaction. The good news is, Lazarus did not stay dead forever, and we do not have to either. There is always a chance to be spiritually revived.

Reflection Question: Which character are you most like when you feel abandoned: Mary, Martha, or Lazarus.