Savannah Guthrie admits to feeling 'utter abandonment' by God in Easter message

Savannah Guthrie has shared a lengthy message questioning her faith over the Easter weekend.

The Today co-anchor, who is set to return to the NBC morning show, shared a candid message as the search for her mum continues.

Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on 1 February and has not been since. Police have acknowledged she was likely abducted from her Tucson, Arizona home.

"We celebrate today the promise of a new life that never ends in death," Savannah said in a video message. "But standing here today, I have to tell you, there are moments in which that promise seems irretrievably far away. When life itself seems far harder than death. These moments of deep disappointment with God, the feeling of utter abandonment.

"In those darkest moments," Savannah continued, "I have thought bitterly and perhaps irreverently that I have stumbled upon a feeling that Jesus did not know."

Savannah's message was shared one day before she resumes her duties on the Today set for the first time since Nancy was reported missing. Ahead of her return to live TV, she offered insight into her emotions regarding that decision.

"I can't come back and try to be something that I'm not," she told co-host Hoda Kotb in an interview last week. "But I can't not come back, because it's my family. I think it's part of my purpose right now."