Most people remember others on their birthdays and anniversaries and then they forget!! Well-that is with human relationships; but not so with our Heavenly Father who says He will never forget you!

The context of our reading is God’s people lamenting that He had forgotten them—they had been in exile in a faraway nation and were probably reeling under physical toil and the emotional pain of being separated from their own people and homeland. How they longed to be comforted! And that’s what exactly the Lord does! He assures them of His tender love like that of a mother and tells them that they are constantly on His mind (Isa 49:15-16). The love of a mother for the suckling child would probably be the strongest attachment in nature. It would be unusual for a mother to be unmindful of that strong tie, and to forsake the child that she nourishes and loves. What the Lord says is even if a human mother forgets her child, God will not forget His afflicted and suffering people. Thus the Lord reiterated His tender love for His people!

 

As we meditate on this Scripture, we see a Retribution and a Restoration the Lord does for His people.

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• Retribution: The just God punishes the nations that tormented His people. 

• Restoration: The merciful God does not forsake His people but brings about a restoration of their posterity and their prosperity.

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Children of God can go through distress in life  i)due to their own making- suffer for their wrong doing, thus being in a state of desolation: Psa.68:6 AMP says,  “…Only the stubborn and rebellious dwell in a parched land.”  ii) the Lord allows a period of struggle and suffering – e.g. Job) [ Job 23:10: “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” ] that they be pruned and purified to become vessels of honour for God’s glory. In the first instance, when they realize their wrong and turn to the Lord, as a compassionate Father, He forgives and restores.  In the second instance, the Lord never takes His eye off His children even in the midst of their struggles and brings them forth victoriously through it- having come forth richer for the experiences they went through and the Lord blessing their latter lives better than the former.

All the while, dear child of God, you are in the hand of the Lord! Your life is constantly before Him—He never forgets you. Hebrews 13:5 says, “-For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  He does hear your cry and will come to deliver- as it says in Isa 49:23 “Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.” Look how He carried Israel through the journey in the wilderness: “… There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went..” (Deut.1:31 NIV)

When Christ Jesus allowed His hands to be driven with the nails to the cross, it was for your sin- to take away the curse of sin from your life and restore you to a relationship with Father God. Those who receive His saving grace by giving their lives to His keeping, their names are inscribed in the palms of His nail-scarred hands! Would you see His open arms ready to receive you and bring you comfort from your struggles, that your life will be blessed from this day on?

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Meditate on what God says:
“I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. 
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.  (Isaiah 46:4 NLT)

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Listen-‘He never sleeps’