From My Perspective - - -
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe first published in 1719, and sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. After a tumultuous journey that sees his ship wrecked by a vicious storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey too ends in disaster as the ship is taken over by pirates, and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape and years later, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island - which he calls the Island of Despair. His companions all die. He proceeds to build a fenced-in habitation near a cave which he excavates himself. He keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross built by himself. He reads the Bible and suddenly becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but society. The immediacy of his situation is the sense of abandonment – having been left completely and finally; forsaken utterly; deserted and alone to either survive by ingenuity or to die in despair. Crusoe chose to live and devised a plan of survival and deliverance from his Island of Despair.
In a similar way, a recent film - CAST AWAY – tells the story of Chuck Noland who is a time-obsessed FedEx systems analyst, who travels worldwide resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots. A Christmas with relatives is interrupted by Chuck being summoned to resolve a problem overseas. While flying through a violent thunderstorm somewhere over the southern Pacific Ocean, an incident occurs on Chuck's plane which results in it crashing into the ocean. Chuck is able to escape the sinking plane and is saved by an inflatable life-raft, which floats for some time in the storm before being washed up on an island. It soon becomes clear that the island is uninhabited, and Chuck's early attempts to make visual signals for any searching aircraft, and to escape the island in the remnants of his life raft are fruitless. Four years pass, and after a large sheet of plastic washes up on the island, Chuck decides to use it as a sail in the construction of a raft. After spending some time building and stocking the raft and deciding when the weather conditions will be optimal, Chuck launches the raft and finally escapes the island. After some time on the ocean, the raft is virtually destroyed by a storm. Distraught, Chuck resigns himself to his fate and abandons his attempt to find rescue. Half-dead and sunburned, he is found drifting a short time later by a passing cargo ship. Upon returning home Chuck discovers that he has long been given up for dead by everyone he knows; his family and friends held a funeral; and the love of his life had married someone else.
Some situations of abandonment occur by accident, whereas others happen by design. In Genesis 37, there is the account of Joseph being sold into slavery. His older brothers feel he is more loved by their father than they are, and come to the point where they hate him. At first, they plan to kill him but them decide to sell him to a passing caravan. A commentator (Boice) shares his impressions of Joseph: “Joseph, being seventeen years old: He was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the 110 year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public.”
What is it that sustained Joseph in his abandonment? How did he manage to survive rejection, hatred, being alone, and having become chattel in the hands of others? It is the truth shared throughout all generations and eloquently stated in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; I will help thee; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” There comes a time during a famine when Joseph will be in the company of his brothers one more time. They are at his mercy and revenge could be so sweet. But - what will Joseph do at such a moment? How will he respond to those who hated him and wanted him dead? In Genesis 50:19-21, “Joseph said to them…You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” He forgave them and fed them! Don’t let adversity or abandonment harden your character. God has not abandoned you! Consider these things with me!
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe first published in 1719, and sometimes considered to be the first novel in English. After a tumultuous journey that sees his ship wrecked by a vicious storm, his lust for the sea remains so strong that he sets out to sea again. This journey too ends in disaster as the ship is taken over by pirates, and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape and years later, he joins an expedition to bring slaves from Africa, but is shipwrecked in a storm about forty miles out to sea on an island - which he calls the Island of Despair. His companions all die. He proceeds to build a fenced-in habitation near a cave which he excavates himself. He keeps a calendar by making marks in a wooden cross built by himself. He reads the Bible and suddenly becomes religious, thanking God for his fate in which nothing is missing but society. The immediacy of his situation is the sense of abandonment – having been left completely and finally; forsaken utterly; deserted and alone to either survive by ingenuity or to die in despair. Crusoe chose to live and devised a plan of survival and deliverance from his Island of Despair.
In a similar way, a recent film - CAST AWAY – tells the story of Chuck Noland who is a time-obsessed FedEx systems analyst, who travels worldwide resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots. A Christmas with relatives is interrupted by Chuck being summoned to resolve a problem overseas. While flying through a violent thunderstorm somewhere over the southern Pacific Ocean, an incident occurs on Chuck's plane which results in it crashing into the ocean. Chuck is able to escape the sinking plane and is saved by an inflatable life-raft, which floats for some time in the storm before being washed up on an island. It soon becomes clear that the island is uninhabited, and Chuck's early attempts to make visual signals for any searching aircraft, and to escape the island in the remnants of his life raft are fruitless. Four years pass, and after a large sheet of plastic washes up on the island, Chuck decides to use it as a sail in the construction of a raft. After spending some time building and stocking the raft and deciding when the weather conditions will be optimal, Chuck launches the raft and finally escapes the island. After some time on the ocean, the raft is virtually destroyed by a storm. Distraught, Chuck resigns himself to his fate and abandons his attempt to find rescue. Half-dead and sunburned, he is found drifting a short time later by a passing cargo ship. Upon returning home Chuck discovers that he has long been given up for dead by everyone he knows; his family and friends held a funeral; and the love of his life had married someone else.
Some situations of abandonment occur by accident, whereas others happen by design. In Genesis 37, there is the account of Joseph being sold into slavery. His older brothers feel he is more loved by their father than they are, and come to the point where they hate him. At first, they plan to kill him but them decide to sell him to a passing caravan. A commentator (Boice) shares his impressions of Joseph: “Joseph, being seventeen years old: He was loved and hated, favored and abused, tempted and trusted, exalted and abased. Yet at no point in the 110 year life of Joseph did he ever seem to get his eyes off God or cease to trust him. Adversity did not harden his character. Prosperity did not ruin him. He was the same in private as in public.”
What is it that sustained Joseph in his abandonment? How did he manage to survive rejection, hatred, being alone, and having become chattel in the hands of others? It is the truth shared throughout all generations and eloquently stated in Isaiah 41:10, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; I will help thee; I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” There comes a time during a famine when Joseph will be in the company of his brothers one more time. They are at his mercy and revenge could be so sweet. But - what will Joseph do at such a moment? How will he respond to those who hated him and wanted him dead? In Genesis 50:19-21, “Joseph said to them…You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done…And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” He forgave them and fed them! Don’t let adversity or abandonment harden your character. God has not abandoned you! Consider these things with me!
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