March 15, 2001
"But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me."
"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!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."
Isaiah 49:14-16
Just as the Israelites did, I have often asked God if he's forgotten, given up or sometimes abandoned me. Usually in more difficult moments when I don't understand the why behind the challenges I'm facing. When I can't understand perfectly, or even logically in my mind, what he's doing I tend to question him. This verse reassured the Israelites and it reassures me that he has not forgotten. He uses an analogy that should drive this home in our hearts.. what should be a rhetorical question... can a mother forget her child? The love of a mother for her child is the strongest and most natural attachment in nature. Unfortunately we know that a mother can forget... we have all heard stories of incredible neglect and many have lived through them. But even if a mother can forget... God promises that he will not!! To help us understand that further he says that we are engraved on the palms of his hands - an analogy that initially didn't mean too much to me until I learned that the Jews of the day had a practice of making marks or punctures on their hands with representations of the temple in order to show their zeal for it. Through this analogy God is communicating his zeal/love/compassion for them --> they and WE, are ever on his heart and mind!! He will not forget us -- he cannot forget us!