Healing From Betrayal: Yahuah’s Promise Never to Forsake Us
I often proclaim my love for Yahuah with all my heart, soul, and might, just as Deuteronomy 6:5 commands. My desire is to serve Him wholeheartedly. Yet, when tested, I fail far more often than I succeed. Instead of showing love, I get angry. Instead of blessing, I find myself wanting to curse. In frustration, I cry out,
"How can You love someone like that? They spit in Your face repeatedly, and You do nothing!"
But He always responds, “I did do something—I died.”
That truth humbles me every time.
Looking back, a particularly painful season of my life shaped who I am today. To fully grasp it, I need to take you to the beginning.
The Shaking Begins
Years ago, I worked in the mortgage industry, earning a stable salary of around $60K. It wasn’t my dream job, but I enjoyed it well enough. Then, in August 2007, it all vanished. Nationwide, my entire department was laid off. The news came as a shock. At first, I believed Yahuah had orchestrated the timing for a specific reason, but over the years, I’ve wrestled with understanding why it had to happen that way.
Was it a test? A necessary pruning? A consequence of a fallen world? Maybe all of the above. What I do know is that nothing happens outside of Yahuah’s control. He allows hardships—sometimes to refine us, sometimes to redirect us, and sometimes to remove what is unstable before we build our foundation on Him alone.
Only days after losing my job, my mother called, asking me to help my brother. He had just lost a key employee to maternity leave, and her replacement had quit unexpectedly. I didn’t want to step in, but I couldn’t bring myself to refuse my mother. Looking back, I wish I had. The stress, heartache, and pain that followed were more than I could have ever anticipated.
His business was already failing—it just limped along long enough for the Shmita year to arrive. If you’re unfamiliar, the Shmita year is Yahuah’s appointed time of release and reset, proclaimed on Yom Kippur and beginning the following spring. It serves as a two-edged sword:
- For those walking in His ways, it brings blessing.
- For those who reject Him, it brings judgment.
During the Shmita of 2008-2009, the U.S. stock market collapsed by 50%, triggering a global recession. But while the world reeled, my story took a personal turn.
A Costly Decision
I worked for my brother without pay for a time, hoping to help stabilize things. But ultimately, he gave up and pursued other ventures—some bordering on illegal. In hindsight, I should have focused on finding my own job instead of trying to keep his afloat.
Instead, I made a foolish decision: I started my own business in a similar field, hoping to succeed through quality over profit. I subleased a small section of my brother’s building—the worst mistake I ever made.
I didn’t realize the extent of his deception or how much damage he had left in his wake. Unbeknownst to me, people assumed my business was just a rebranded version of his. It’s like when a failed restaurant closes, and a new one opens in the same location—people assume it’s the same business with a different name.
Within a year, I found myself dragged into a legal dispute between my brother and his former business partner. Growing up, I idolized my brother, believing he could do no wrong. How wrong I was.
He abandoned me to deal with the consequences of his actions, and when he left the area, his former partner turned her fury on me. She and her associates harassed me relentlessly—at my business, in my home, and even in the community.
I hated him for what he did to me. To this day, I don’t trust him, and I likely never will.
But what happened years later cut even deeper.
Forsaken Again: The Hidden Meaning of ʿĀzab (עזב)
Years later, my brother returned and moved in with my parents.
Just as they had once favored him—expecting me to help him for free while I needed to find a new job—I believe he was the one who convinced them to change their will.
I was disinherited.
Not just me, but all their children—the very ones they had abused on every level. They left everything to the grandchildren, the ones who never saw or experienced their cruelty.
It was then that I realized what they had done was forsaking us. They had cut us off—not just financially, but emotionally, relationally, and spiritually. But honestly, I don’t think they realize this.
That betrayal shook me to my core.
I had spent my entire life longing for love from people who were incapable of love.
Narcissistic people do not love. They control. They manipulate. They discard.
My parents spent their lives gaslighting, deceiving, and mistreating their own children, only to elevate themselves by showering false generosity on grandchildren who never suffered under their abuse.
This realization led me to seek out the deeper meaning of forsake, the very thing I felt my parents had done to me.
In Hebrew, the word for forsake is עזב (ʿāzab).
At first glance, ʿāzab means to leave, abandon, or forsake. But when we examine its deeper meaning, something surprising emerges.
- Ayin (ע) – Represents the eye, perception, or understanding.
- Zayin (ז) – Symbolizes a weapon, cutting, or separation.
- Bet (ב) – Stands for house, family, or dwelling.
When placed together, עזב (ʿāzab) doesn’t just mean “to leave.” At its root, it can signify being cut off from the house—a painful separation. But in Hebrew thought, a word can also carry the opposite meaning. ʿāzab can also mean to restore, to lay up, or even to strengthen.
This blew me away.
The very word for forsake also holds the promise of restoration!
When Yahuah says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6), He is promising not only to stay with us but to gather us, strengthen us, and restore us.
What I once saw as a breaking—being disinherited, cut off, left behind—may actually be a necessary pruning. Yahuah doesn’t allow separation to destroy us but to shape us, refine us, and ultimately bring us into a deeper reliance on Him.
Final Thoughts
For years, I saw my family’s rejection as a curse. But Yahuah never truly forsakes His own. Even when people turn their backs on us, He remains. He uses what was meant for evil to bring about His perfect plan.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know this:
My purpose is to serve Him.
My commitment is to His truth.
And my courage comes from knowing that He is with me.
No matter what comes next, I will stand firm in His promises.
Because Yahuah never fails.