When you go through a long period of pain and hardship, you begin to wonder if God really cares. You think, “He must have given up on me. Perhaps among all the billions of people of the world He has to keep track of, He has forgotten me.” And that’s a scary feeling!
But that’s exactly how the Children of Israel felt. In the Bible you can read where they said, “The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me” Isaiah 49:14.
What does God say in reply when you feel this way? He answers with deep compassion, “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!” Isaiah 49:15.
What a strong picture of His love! No mother ever forgets the child she has borne, even those who have given up their babies for adoption. Even those who have aborted a baby in the early months of pregnancy never forget. Yet God says, though a mother would forget, God says, “I will not forget you!”
Then He adds one more phrase for emphasis: “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (verse 16). When elementary school kids get a crush on a girlfriend or boyfriend, they often write their initials on their hands. It’s a semi-secret way of identifying with that person.
But God in the person of Jesus Christ has more than our names written on His hands. He has nail prints on those hands to prove His love for us! He suffered far more than the pangs of childbirth to make us His children. His pain—the pain of death on a cross—left scars that will forever be a reminder of His love.
“Greater love has no one than this,” said Jesus, “that he lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13. Jesus did just that for you. And you can be sure that the One who died for you will never forget you or forsake you. Never!
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