September 26

I Have Not Forgotten You

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 106:32-39 | Isaiah 48:12-50:11 | Ephesians 4:17-32 | Proverbs 24:5-6

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 49

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14 ESV).

Have you ever wondered if God had forgotten about you? Sometimes our prayers seem to go on unanswered for so long that we think he has forgotten us. Sometimes the circumstances of our lives are difficult and painful and we wonder how God could ever allow us to go through such a thing.

There are times that we wonder. There are times we may even say it: “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” It may be a statement that is true to our feelings, but it is never really true. God never forgets his people. He never forsakes us.

Isaiah goes on to say: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (49:15-16a).

How could a young mother forget her newborn baby? How could she fail to have compassion? God says that he will remember us and have compassion on us even more surely than a young mother who cares for her newborn child.

God may seem to hide for a time, but he has not forsaken you. He has not forgotten you. You are his child and he cares for you with the same loving affection given by a mother to her young child.

Father, thank you for being there and loving me even when I am unaware of your presence, even when I may feel that you have forgotten about me. In those times I can not feel  your presence, help me to rest in the truth that you are there and love me like a young mother who cares for her newborn child. Amen.