“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!” Isaiah 49:15
And yet sometimes we do feel forgotten. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, wrote, “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?” (Psalm 13:1-2).
Likewise, Elijah felt abandoned and wanted to die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:4). No doubt Joseph felt abandoned in jail (Genesis 40:23) and Jesus felt abandoned on the Cross (Mark 15:34).
However, our emotions don’t tell us the full story. We can watch a magician and know that our eyes aren’t telling us everything, and we’re surrounded by radio waves that we don’t hear. Similarly, a lot is going on in the spiritual world that we can’t feel, see or hear.
Instead of trusting our senses, we trust God who says, “I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). God sent Jesus who came, lived, and died so we could be in a relationship with him. Max Lucado writes: “On the eve of the cross, Jesus made his decision. He would rather go to hell for you than go to heaven without you.” We are not forgotten.
We have the same choice as David, who decided to trust God, regardless of his feelings. He finishes Psalm 13 with these words, “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me” (v. 5-6).
Other posts on this topic here.
