Not Forgotten

“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.“ (Isaiah 49:15, ESV)

Can you remember the things you have forgotten? Of course not. In a lifetime, we remember a lot, but also forget much. Researchers tell us that we forget perhaps 80% of the things we learn every day. However, it seems that we remember enough to keep going. We do not forget the most essential things to us.

In this passage the Lord is telling the nation of Israel that he will not forget them. Remember that Judah would be conquered by Babylon, the city of Jerusalem destroyed, and the people deported. They would remain in Babylon for 70 years prior to returning. In the midst of such a long trial, I can imagine that the people of the nation would think that God had forgotten them. Here, the Lord tells them that He will not forget them.

It seems impossible that a mother would forget to nurse a child. Yet even if this were possible God is infinitely greater than the nursing mother. He who birthed the nation of Israel would never forget them. Even though the nation would wonder if God had forgotten them, He would not forget the nation.

If we are honest with ourselves, we have all experienced situations in life where we wonder if God has forgotten us. It may be a dream that we pursued and things just did not progress as planned. It may be when there was a financial crisis that affected us personally. It may have been a broken relationship. It may have been an illness. In these difficult circumstances we will often pray things like this. “God, where are you? Don’t you know what is happening? Have you abandoned me in this horrible situation?” These prayers come out of our human emotion and are far from the truth. The Lord God never leaves us nor forsakes us.

We who have believed in Christ are God’s children. He never forgets us. We are vitally important to Him. Every trial has a season. It was this way for the nation of Israel. It is this way for us. While we may think that God has somehow forgotten us when we are in the midst of the difficulty, He has not. The problem is not that He has forgotten us, but that in the difficult circumstance, we may have forgotten the truth of His nearness to us.

What is the solution? When we have a struggle, we must take our eyes off the problem and focus them on the promises of God’s word. Spend time in prayer, not complaining about His absence. Instead, praise him for His presence. Realize that He is present with you to hold you and carry you through the trial.