Ellis
God demonstrated His love toward Israel when He declared, “I will not forget you.”
Suffering in Babylon the people lamented that “He had forgotten them.” The word to you readers this morning is that “God will never forget you.” Never!
He who counts the number of hairs on your head will not forget you (Matthew 10:30). He who called you to salvation before the foundation of the world will not forget you. He who gave His Son, who commended His love for us while we were yet sinners will not forget you. We are His prized possession adopted into the family of God. There is a contemporary song I’ve heard that is a testimony to this effect; it says “I am not forgotten…I am not forgotten, God knows my name.”
Community, He knows us by name, each and every one of us. God did not save us to forget us! This morning let’s keep that in mind He did not deliver us to forget us. He did not bring us through what He brought us through to just forget us. It doesn’t make sense. Why would He? We wouldn’t forget someone that we love, would we? That’s the thought I want us to get this morning; I might forget someone that I don’t know, but my children and my wife or husband I will never forget. They belong to me and we belong to God. We are His children. I speak to that this morning because sometimes it can seem that God has forgotten us.
When we pray in a distressing situation, and we don’t hear from God and that prayer is not answered for a long period of time it can seem that God has forgotten us. When He doesn’t answer when we think he should or how we think He should, and our situation gets worse before it gets better.
Where is God? Has anybody ever wondered about that?
The Bible says in James chapter 5, “the effectual and fervent prayer of the righteous avails much.” In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus taught us to be persistent in prayer and not faint. In Philippians 4:6-7 it reads, “Pray about everything.”But, my prayer seems to fall in the wind.
When the loved one I prayed for dies and the house that I prayed to keep is foreclosed on and you have to move out; when you have to file for bankruptcy and it ruins your credit; when your spouse files for divorce, get it and then marries your best friend; when you kneel around the altar, lay on your face before God, turn your plate down, read your Bible and live right, yet nothing changes, it can seem that God has forgotten you.
Oh, the saints whose faith is weak today, because they are depressed, their spirits are broken because they feel that God has forgotten them. Now there are times when you pray and before you can turn around God has answered; I’ve seen it happen in my life; I prayed to God for an answer and God worked on my behalf and turned things around quickly; and I thanked Him for it; and then at other times I’ve prayed to God and have prayed for something specifically and God did not answer in the way that I asked; but notice that I said He didn’t answer in the way that I asked; I didn’t say that He did not answer at all! I need for us to understand this morning, that just because he doesn’t answer the way we want him to doesn’t mean that he did not answer; here it is; sometimes his answer is yes; sometimes his answer is no; and then sometimes His answer is wait; we don’t like the “No” answer; we don’t like the “wait” answer; but remember Isaiah said “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).
And then we have to understand community that we don’t always know what’s best for us and that God can see further down the road than we can. He answers according to his perfect will when it works for our good and His glory, but we walk by faith and not by sight. Friends listen, there are people in nursing homes who feel like God has forgotten them, nobody comes to see them. Look at some of them; the very life has gone out of them; there are Christians in communist countries being persecuted, some martyred or killed for their faith, missionaries are being persecuted with no relief, some losing their lives just for trying to win the lost, caring for sick children who are diseased; they can sometimes feel that God has forgotten them; “where is God?”
Anyone who is suffering feels forsaken. It’s a natural reaction to pain.[1] To us, if you love somebody you always give them good things; but that’s the wrong concept; sometimes when you love somebody, you give them what they need; you give them what’s best for them, even if it hurts or they don’t understand; and what we need is vegetables sometimes and not always cake! Israel said “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me (Isaiah 49:14).”
Community, friends and family may forget us; jobs may forget us; people you do favors for may forget us; people that we go out of your way to bless may forget us; churches that you are faithful to sometimes will forget you; But God has a good memory; we are on His mind. We are engraved in His heart. Praise the Lord, God will never forget us.