February 7, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“But Zion said, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!’ [The Lord replies] ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!‘” (Isaiah 49.14-15)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

Are we willing to consider what we are saying when we take matters into our own hands? Some will call it “taking initiative.” Some will say, “Somebody has to do it.” Some will say “If not now, when; if not me, who.” But what if what is actually being said is “I believe in God, but I just don’t trust Him to do what is needed at this moment.” What if what we are saying is “I am afraid things won’t go my way, so I will act now before anything else happens.” What if we are saying “My will not yours be done, O Lord.” And what if we are saying it because “God is slow to answer and I need this now.” You and I both know, mighty ones of God, that these conversations in problem-solving happen. You know we think it ourselves. Not only do we think it, but we act out on it taking matters in our own hands! Is it really because we don’t trust God’s Word, especially the hard words of “recovery, renewal, revival, rebuke, wait, work, wonder, will”? How often have we turned silence into forgotten and solitude into no? Why are we so quick to speak for God instead of listening for the deep truths intended for our good? When things go wrong, we blame God. When things go “our way,” we take all the credit. I will not ask for a raise of hands at this point. I will raise my own that I have been guilty of this myself. You do what you think is right.

God addresses this thinking of His people in today’s verses (49.14-15). His people are in exile (both foreign and domestic) as if they are “a people without a country (foreign exiles)” or “strangers in their own land (domestic exiles.)” How often have we felt that way ourselves? It makes me wonder which God they were talking about when they said, as God had heard them say it and now repeats it back to them through Isaiah, ‘The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!’ Have you considered that perspective yourself in times of distress and lack? Which “God” are you praying to and appealing to for help, deliverance and salvation? Is it the God of your choosing? By that I mean, the God you choose to put into your service. Or is it the God of Heaven and Earth who knows all things and thus what is best for you in the moment based on your journey with and without Him across time? God not only knows all things but sees all things. Nothing is hidden from God. There are no secrets we can keep from God. He is in our hiding place, in our secret places in the unknown places we think that only we know about. He not only knows all things and sees all things, He also hears all things and the myriad of conversations we have with others and ourselves defending our actions, our accusations, our assumptions and presumptions and the logic bombs we produce with the intention of validating our decisions to act upon our own “taking matters into our own hands.”

God responded confidently “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you!” First, before you say it, mighty MEN of God, do not think that God is intentionally leaving you out by answering with a “female” response. If you did that, you would not be alone, because there are women who have not yet given birth to a child. There are children who have not yet experienced the opportunity of “parenthood.” God’s answer, however, speaks to us all. We must remember the prophetic vocabulary of faith which God is using. God is speaking of the divine relationship of “husband and wife” which is revealed as the spiritual relationship between Himself and His people. God sees the individuals but reminds them and us of our collective nature. Israel, His people, is like a wife in this divine relationship of spiritual marriage. We dare not forget the value God places on such a relationship. It defines who we are in relationship to Him as well as who He is in relationship to us. Ultimately, God declares, “It is hard for a woman to forget the child she has brought into the world, even impossible. Yet, if it were possible, know that I will never forget!” God hears, sees and knows us right where we are and has a plan in place for those who remember that and trust Him to be the God of their lives. This is what we have to remember, mighty ones of God, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Yes, the wisdom of Solomon has been quoted (Proverbs 3.5) but it is not meant to be a stand alone verse. As we draw it to mind, we must add its companion verse (3.6) which says “…in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

We might do well to remember that God is working with us. He is not working us. He is not manipulating us nor will He be manipulated by us. His will is perfect and His righteousness endures forever. So, watching us in our exercise of freewill, God then is able to work with us to effect the plan of salvation and provision for us. In doing so, He is able to bring us to the place where our choices are to serve God and one another, to love God and one another and to fulfill our commission given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins so that we may freely follow Him and receive all His benefits.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ. AMEN.