You Are Not Forgotten

I’m well past the child-bearing years. My sons are all in their 20s. But those long ago days of pregnancy and little people are still as fresh in my memory as ever. I can still picture their little cherub faces and tiny chiclet teeth. And I can remember how their hair smelled like cookies until they were about five years old (yes, even dirty, stinky boys can have cookie hair).

All of this brings to mind Isaiah 49:15:

“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!”

I love this passage because it’s such a huge, undeniable promise. The rhetorical question has an ever-present answer: Of course a mother would never forget her nursing baby! Of course a mother would have compassion on all of her children. 

God is saying that even if a mother were to forget her children (which she won’t), God will never forget us. God is doubling down on how much he wants us to know that he will never withhold his love for us. God’s compassion is sure and you will not be forgotten.

This is important for us to hold onto as we continue to make our way through this time of pandemic. The longer this goes, the more difficult things become for many of us. Especially the economic repercussions of the social distancing, not to mention the emotional/relational ramifications of the isolation.

In the midst of this is the good news: You are not forgotten. 

Which means that you are remembered with compassion. Let’s hold onto this truth and let it change us from the inside out. The first person to whom you should show compassion is yourself. How you treat yourself is often how you treat others, so receiving your own compassion is a great place to start.

And let’s also extend compassion to those around us. We aren’t the only ones who are anxious, tired or overwhelmed. Let’s extend this compassionate love to everyone we come into contact with on social media, through a Zoom conference or in a grocery store line. 

Reflection

• Whether you are a parent or not, think of someone special in your life—someone you would never turn your back on—someone you would never forget.
• How do you feel about that person? How deeply do you love them?
• Now, imagine that your love is just a fraction of how much God loves you (and the whole world).
• How might you encounter God today in light of his compassionate, I’ll-never-forget-you love?

Even if the people you love don’t have “cookie-smelling-hair” your commitment to them is sure. And even if you, yourself, don’t have a “cherub face” or “chiclet teeth” God’s love for you is unquestionable. And don’t you forget it.