Have you ever felt like God has forgotten about you? Maybe you have prayed the same prayer repeatedly without receiving the answer you were hoping for. Maybe you thought things would be different than they are. Sometimes it is difficult to believe that God “is not slow to fulfill his promise” (2 Pet. 3:9 ESV).
Many of the psalms sympathize with those who feel as if God has forgotten them. Psalm 13:1 asks, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Likewise, Psalm 44:24 asks, “Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?”
Sometimes there can be a tension in faith; one that simultaneously feels as if God is not moving but trusts that He eventually will. When we feel this tension, we should meditate on the fact that we serve the God who remembers.
God Remembered Noah
Noah was on the ark for a lot longer than just forty days and nights. While Noah was on the ark, the Bible does tell us that it rained for forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:12). But the Bible also tells us that “the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days” (Gen. 7:24). Can you imagine being Noah and his family? God told you that it would rain for forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:4), but He never mentioned the 150 days of waiting! I imagine on the forty-first day, tensions began to rise a bit on the ark: “The forty days are over, where is God?”
I imagine after sixty days, seventy days, 100 days, the nervousness only grew. Can you imagine being on the ark with all those animals, surrounded by nothing but water for 150 days? That’s five months! Meanwhile, the God who told you that it would rain for forty days and nights is silent.
This background helps us better grasp the beauty of Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” There was a span of time when it may have been easy for Noah or his family to think that God had forgotten them, but they served the God who remembers. In God’s anger about the corruption of the earth through sin, He did not forget His mercy and compassion for those in the ark. Likewise, God will not forget us. Like Noah and his family, we may have to wait longer than we expected, but God will always remember.
God Remembered Israel
What kind of life would you expect the chosen people of God to live? Few of us would expect God’s chosen nation to be subjugated to slavery in a foreign nation, but that is exactly how the history of the Israelites as a nation began. While in Egypt after the time of Joseph, the Egyptians forgot how a Hebrew had saved their nation and began to oppress the people of Israel. The Egyptians “ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service” (Exod. 1:13-14). Israelites were being murdered, their young were being slain, and they were subjected to grueling conditions and mistreatment for generations. Where was God? Were they still His chosen people? Why wasn’t God acting to help them? Had God forgotten His people?
With this background in mind, Exodus 2:23-25 becomes even more beautiful: “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
Exodus teaches us that God hears, remembers, sees, knows, and acts. No mistreatment goes unnoticed by Him. No burden we bear escapes His sight. There is no struggle we endure that God does not know about. There is no prayer for deliverance His people pray that He does not hear. God will act when the time is right. He will remember His promises and He will keep His covenants. God knows all the details. He knows the right time to act. He knows what needs to happen. We only need to know that He will remember us. The next time you feel as if God has forgotten you, or God does not know what you’re going through, meditate on the fact that we serve the God who remembers!
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.” (Psalm 121:1-3)
We Serve the God Who Remembers
Have you ever felt like God has forgotten about you? Maybe you have prayed the same prayer repeatedly without receiving the answer you were hoping for. Maybe you thought things would be different than they are. Sometimes it is difficult to believe that God “is not slow to fulfill his promise” (2 Pet. 3:9 ESV).
Many of the psalms sympathize with those who feel as if God has forgotten them. Psalm 13:1 asks, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Likewise, Psalm 44:24 asks, “Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?”
Sometimes there can be a tension in faith; one that simultaneously feels as if God is not moving but trusts that He eventually will. When we feel this tension, we should meditate on the fact that we serve the God who remembers.
God Remembered Noah
Noah was on the ark for a lot longer than just forty days and nights. While Noah was on the ark, the Bible does tell us that it rained for forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:12). But the Bible also tells us that “the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days” (Gen. 7:24). Can you imagine being Noah and his family? God told you that it would rain for forty days and forty nights (Gen. 7:4), but He never mentioned the 150 days of waiting! I imagine on the forty-first day, tensions began to rise a bit on the ark: “The forty days are over, where is God?”
I imagine after sixty days, seventy days, 100 days, the nervousness only grew. Can you imagine being on the ark with all those animals, surrounded by nothing but water for 150 days? That’s five months! Meanwhile, the God who told you that it would rain for forty days and nights is silent.
This background helps us better grasp the beauty of Genesis 8:1: “But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” There was a span of time when it may have been easy for Noah or his family to think that God had forgotten them, but they served the God who remembers. In God’s anger about the corruption of the earth through sin, He did not forget His mercy and compassion for those in the ark. Likewise, God will not forget us. Like Noah and his family, we may have to wait longer than we expected, but God will always remember.
God Remembered Israel
What kind of life would you expect the chosen people of God to live? Few of us would expect God’s chosen nation to be subjugated to slavery in a foreign nation, but that is exactly how the history of the Israelites as a nation began. While in Egypt after the time of Joseph, the Egyptians forgot how a Hebrew had saved their nation and began to oppress the people of Israel. The Egyptians “ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service” (Exod. 1:13-14). Israelites were being murdered, their young were being slain, and they were subjected to grueling conditions and mistreatment for generations. Where was God? Were they still His chosen people? Why wasn’t God acting to help them? Had God forgotten His people?
With this background in mind, Exodus 2:23-25 becomes even more beautiful: “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
Exodus teaches us that God hears, remembers, sees, knows, and acts. No mistreatment goes unnoticed by Him. No burden we bear escapes His sight. There is no struggle we endure that God does not know about. There is no prayer for deliverance His people pray that He does not hear. God will act when the time is right. He will remember His promises and He will keep His covenants. God knows all the details. He knows the right time to act. He knows what needs to happen. We only need to know that He will remember us. The next time you feel as if God has forgotten you, or God does not know what you’re going through, meditate on the fact that we serve the God who remembers!
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.” (Psalm 121:1-3)