Do you ever wonder sometimes if you’ve simply missed God’s will for your life? I mean, you’ve screwed up so bad that it’s just too late for any of your dreams to come to pass? After all, it hasn’t happened yet – right?
Or another scenario….You loved a friend but were betrayed. You served your family but your children were ungrateful and your husband distant. You prayed but nothing happened. Is God there? Is He listening? Does He care?
When thinking about rejection, we cannot allow our own thoughts and feelings to rule. The good news is that God has made His position very clear.
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Isaiah 49:14-16
Here, God’s people felt abandoned and it’s easy to understand why. Their nation had been conquered and their capital city left in ruins. God’s promises to bless his people in His land seem long forgotten. How could this be happening to them?
Firstly, take comfort from their cry. You are not the first person to feel forgotten by God. Feeling that way does not mean you are a failure. God’s people have experienced those feelings for thousands of years.
Secondly, be encouraged by God’s response. He asks a rhetorical question about a mother and baby. God is your Father, how could He forget you? He says that we, His people, are engraved on His hands. Far from forgotten, we are precious to him. To a people who have been conquered, He says that their walls are ever before him. He speaks right into the situation that caused their fear.
Circumstances don’t mean He has forgotten, they mean He is building something better. Remind yourself of His words – I will never forget you!
“Faith is the art of holding onto things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances”
CS Lewis
