When You Feel Forgotten
By Cindi McMenamin
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Do you ever panic when circumstances look bleak, thinking that maybe God has forgotten you? Perhaps it’s an unexpected bill you have to pay or a deadline that takes you by surprise. Maybe it’s just something you’ve been praying for and you feel overlooked.
There are times I’ve started to feel forgotten. But looking back now, those are the times I’ve forgotten the God of Wonders and how He fights for those He loves.
I was reading in Exodus of God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt. As the Israelites were backed up against the Red Sea with Pharaoh's army hotly pursuing them, it didn’t look good. God's people were afraid of annihilation by the Egyptians. Moses' instructions to them were simple:
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13-14).
God then told Moses to raise his staff and divide the waters of the Red Sea so His people could cross through the middle of it. He also told Moses that the Egyptians would pursue them right through the middle of the sea, but God would "gain glory" through it. Moses didn't know exactly what that meant. He only knew that God expected him to take the next step, and trust Him in the face of threatening circumstances.
All night, the Israelites walked through the parted sea while God, as a pillar of fire, went between them and the pursuing Egyptians, keeping the Israelites a safe distance away, yet still lighting the path before them. Then, when all of the Israelites made it safely to the other side, God sent the Egyptians into confusion and covered them with the giant walls of water, drowning every last one of them.
The Israelites witnessed the spectacular hand of God delivering them from their enemies! Yet only three days later they came to a spring in the desert and grumbled against Moses (and God) because the water was bitter and they had nothing to drink.
How quickly they had forgotten the God who rescued them. Couldn't the God who separated the waters also sweeten them?
In spite of the Israelites’ grumbling, God sweetened the water for them to drink, and then He brought them to Elim – where Exodus 15:27 says “there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.” God gave them a Palm Springs luxury resort! Right there in the desert!
Intersecting Faith & Life:
How quickly you and I can forget God's amazing works too. How quickly we start to grumble, forgetting He is the God who always comes through.
God has told us in His Word He will never leave us, nor will He ever forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). And in Isaiah 49:15, God said, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (ESV).
There is only one thing we are told that God ever forgets—and that is our sin. (Psalm 103:12 tells us, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (NIV). God doesn’t forget us, only our sin when we’ve confessed it to Him and accepted His forgiveness of it once and for all.
When you start to feel forgotten, remember that there is nothing that God forgets but your sin. And that means even when you’re messing up, He hasn’t forgotten or rejected you, He’s still working on what will bring you closer to His heart and back to where you need to be with Him.
Lord, help me to remember today that You are with me, You are for me, and You have a reason for why I’m here. I will trust that You have not forgotten me, and that You are the God who always comes through. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Reading:
Isaiah 49:15-16
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Fizkes
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