A Lesson Learned: I Will Not Forget You!

I love it when I find a scripture that specifically speaks to me that I don’t recall having ever read before. Here is such a scripture I read this past week:

“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

It’s a relatively short passage that has spoken volumes to me this week. In this passage, God is speaking to His people, the people of Israel. They’ve endured hardships (and will continue to do so) because of their disobedience to the God who calls them His own. In the previous scripture, however, they claim that God has forsaken and forgotten them.

But God is assuring them of His love for them with this beautiful metaphor. The thought that we, as parents, could forget our children is ludicrous. You and I both know that we could never, ever forget or forsake our child. But even if we did, God wouldn’t.

Despite the trials, struggles, and even sufferings that we may currently be experiencing (or will experience in the future), God will never forget us. He wants to cradle us in His arms just as we cradle our sweet babies. Just like when we hurt for our children, God hurts for us.

I was telling my mom about this passage this week and she shared with me that this passage was one the greatest comforts she found in scripture after losing my brother over 14 years ago. Being a mother myself now, this scripture holds such great depth and comfort to me as well as I recall that dark time!

I have a good friend from high school who lost her sweet mother this week. Oh how I wish I had the courage to speak these words to her when I saw her at the funeral! And I would love to be able to travel half a world away to Japan and wrap my arms around survivors and those mourning loved ones, whispering these words in their ears! “I will not forget you!”

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