God Hasn't Forgotten
By: Kristen L. McNulty
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For years a couple tries to have a child. As the years go by and reality starts to creep in, their hopes fade, but God hasn’t forgotten.
A woman’s husband is killed, leaving her with a family to raise alone and many debts to pay, but God hasn’t forgotten.
A young man is hard at work and loses someone else’s possession that he cannot afford to replace, but God hasn’t forgotten.
These three situations have one thing in common- from the outside things look completely hopeless. But at the same time, God hasn’t forgotten. How can we know that? Because these situations are not random examples. They sound like they could belong to any one of us or someone we know, yet they all come from the same place.
In the book of 2 Kings all of these stories are told. After years of Elijah’s warnings of God’s judgement, God sent Elisha to the people to remind them that they weren’t forgotten and that they were loved.
We see that as the widow, desperate for help, is given the resources to repay the debts owed and be sustained afterwards. We see that as the couple, although it’s naturally impossible, are blessed with a son. We also see that as Elisha took the time out to find the lost axe head, even though it was humanly impossible to find, lying at the bottom the Jordan River. God hasn’t forgotten.
Fast forward to 2005. The year may be different, the times may have changed, but God hasn’t forgotten. The same God who promised to never leave or forsake us has not forgotten us.
He has not forgotten the overworked pastor with an ungrateful congregation. He has not forgotten the young college student who is struggling to live a life of purity. He has not forgotten the worker whose bills owed far outweigh what the paycheck is bringing in. He has not forgotten you.
Maybe you’re finding that hard to believe because right now things are looking pretty hopeless. If that’s you, you are not alone. So many times the darkness must linger before the light appears, the problem must fester before a solution is found, and we must be at our wits end before God can move. But He hasn’t forgotten.
In Isaiah 49 the people of Jerusalem were convinced that God had both deserted them and forgotten them. God’s response: “Never Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you See, I have written your name on my hand.”
The same hands that stretched the sky across the horizon and the same hands that were pierced for our sins has our names written on them. He can’t get us off of His mind or out of His heart. It would be impossible for Him to forget us and in that we can know that no matter what we face we will never ever be forgotten.
This devotional was aired as a part of the Making A Difference Christian Radio Show.