Steadfast Love
“Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.”Isaiah 49:15
Have you ever felt all alone or maybe as if no one understands you, not even your closest friend or family member? Have you ever felt abandoned and unwanted? Perhaps everyone goes through some moments in their lives when they experience loneliness and abandonment to different degrees. The Israelites whom the Lord freed from slavery to the Egyptians found themselves in cycles of sin and reconciliation while in the wilderness and in the land promised to them, and because of their own choices they fell to the Babylonians and went into captivity. There they felt abandoned and forgotten by God. But we know that can’t be the case.
God never abandons His people, but He may at times permit us to feel His absence. The Israelites fell to the Babylonians because of their reckless decisions in putting their trust and faith in other peoples instead of in God. They made the wrong pacts, forgetting their covenant with God, the only One who could save them. The verses above were spoken to the people while they were in exile in Babylon. This was the response of God when the people has said God has forgotten them. “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). Just as a mother could not forget her child, neither could God. But even if the mother did, God said He would never forget that child. God never forgets you.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes in life and in our spiritual lives we may feel as if God has forgotten us, especially when everything seems to be going wrong — losing our jobs, broken relationships, financial troubles, unexpected deaths, terminal illnesses, natural disasters, mental distress, etc. When we are tempted to wallow in those moments, let us find the courage to recall the times when we have strongly felt God’s presence and protection, and allow those moments to carry us back to the Lord. What God has done for us in the past, He will do for us again now and in the future.
Faith tells us that God will never abandon us, hope gives us the assurance that God is with us, and the love of God is what sustains us. We must hold fast to these three: faith, hope, and love. We are loved by God, and those whom He loves He will never forget for His love is eternal and steadfast. He has promised us this, and He who has promised us is trustworthy. God will never abandon us.
