Yet I will not forget you | God's presence in trying times
We are heading back to a clinic. My mom has had diarrhea for three days and it’s starting to appear like blood. After 20 days in the hospital, a neutropenic colitis, an infection in her picc line (only after 10 days of placing it), and the ups and downs of any hospital stay, she’s asking a question that I have asked myself before many times, why Lord? Why me, why me?
What I saw in her face was not just a search for a reason, but really a search to find if God had forgotten her. Does He care? Does He remember me?
As it usually happens in a hospital setting somebody just came through the door. Our conversation was interrupted but certainly not finished. I continued meditating on those questions, and the look on her face throughout the evening. At night I prayed for wisdom to know how to rightly and fairly portray to my mom the God I love.
The next day found me dwelling again on my own search for the right thing to say. And as I listened to a sermon that evening, I heard the voice of God answering my mom’s questions and probably many people’s questions… Could it be your question too?
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.”
Isaiah 49: 14
Here, God is speaking. He acknowledges our questions. What a caring God to be so close to us to listen to our questions even before we utter them.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.
Isaiah 49: 15-16
As He presents the analogy of the mother caring for her child, He also presents the insufficiency of this analogy to represent the love that He has for us personally and individually.
Yes, He will not forget us.
As the Lord speaks in first person in this verse, I cannot but think what a real, personal, caring God we have.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.
Isaiah 49:16
As I reach verse 16, I recognize the anointing of the Lord. As I’m reading it to my mom, I recognize that the one who’s speaking is no other but Jesus. As I sense the Holy Spirit leading me, I explain to my mom how Jesus will have for eternity the scars on His hands, feet and side. Always a reminder of His sufficient and perfect sacrifice for all human beings. As I told my mom that even if it was just for her, Jesus would have given his life in Calvary, she opened her eyes and I could see how something clicked in her mind.
What a special moment when the Holy Spirit works in two persons. It is not about somebody giving something to another person. It’s about two human beings receiving the work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and minds. It was not about me teaching something to my mom. It was about God wanting to have a personal close relationship with her and with me.
Lift up your eyes,
Isaiah 49:18
As I looked in verse 18 a call to lift up our eyes, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the quote from Corrie Ten Boom:
“If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.”
Corrie Ten Boom
What a depth of message the Lord encapsulated in this few verses. That is exactly why I insist that God does speak today, and He does it mainly through His Word, the Holy Bible. When we look for Him with all of our hearts, He will make himself known to us. As we pray for wisdom and understanding, for a special anointing to be able to communicate who God is for us personally to the ones who don’t know Him, He will reveal Himself to us mainly through His Word.
This is just the most recent account of how the Lord has answered my prayers. It is my humble desire that you, reader, will taste and see that God is good, that He can be trusted and that He cares for you enough to actually speak to you personally through His Word.
This blog post was originally written 3 years ago, but as I remembered with gratitude the time God gave me with my mom before she passed away, I thought of how true those Words were when they were written, when I read them to her, and today, as I share them with you.
Dear Heavenly Father, I come humbly to Your throne of grace. And I ask You to bless each person reading with a desire to hear from You today. I thank You for every experience that you have given me, and that you will give to everyone that searches for You with all their heart. You are attentive to the cry of every human being and You desire to make Yourself known for who You really are. May Your precious Spirit find willing hearts and minds to work on, so that one day we can recognize Your voice calling us from the clouds in the so needed second coming of Your son, our Lord Jesus. In whose name we pray. AMEN.
