Have you ever felt forgotten by God? Even if we are living in obedience to God and what He has called us to do, we might still feel forgotten. Think of Noah on the ark. We talked about him in my Dry Ground post. He spent a L O N G time on that ark. I wonder if during that time he ever felt forgotten by God.
Genesis 8:1 “But God remembered Noah…” I’ve recently noticed this repeated theme of God remembering. When he “destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and he brought Lot our of the catastrophe…” (Gen. 19:29). God “remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob,” when he heard the groaning of His people. (Ex. 2:24). God remembered Rachel in her barrenness (Gen. 30:22). The list goes on.
To be honest, every time I read, “God remembered,” it kind of caused me to furrow my brow a bit. I had the feeling I wasn’t understanding it properly. There had to be a depth of meaning to the word “remembered” that I was missing. Why? Because God is Omnipresent and Omniscient, so how could He ever unintentionally forget (as we do) anyone or anything?
After doing a little digging, I found a bit of helpful insight. Benson Commentary notes this about Exodus 2:24: “And God remembered his covenant — which he seemed to have forgotten, but really is ever mindful of...Moses looked on them and pitied them but God looked on them and helped them…His eyes, which run to and fro throughout the earth, are now fixed on Israel, to show himself strong, to show himself a God on their behalf.”
The idea that God is “ever mindful” resonates better with me because it sounds more like the God I know. But that still doesn’t fully answer my question. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary gave me some additional insight in reference to God remembering Noah. “God remembered Noah, i.e. he showed by his actions that he minded and cared for him,…God is said to remember his people, when after some delays or suspensions of his favour, he returns and shows kindness to them…”
It seems then, that it’s not that God “forgets” per se, it’s more that there is a delay or suspension (not a total cessation) of His favor for a time. I would imagine that it’s during that suspension period that people may feel forgotten, whether or not they’ve done something wrong.
In Noah’s case, he was in the midst of obeying God when he may have felt forgotten. In fact, MacLaren’s expositions asks, “And why did God ‘remember Noah’? It was not favouritism, arbitrary and immoral. Noah was bid to build the ark, because he was ‘righteous’ in a world of evil-doers; he was ‘remembered’ in the ark, because he had believed God’s warning, obeyed God’s command…”
In Rachel’s case, however, it seems that she might have had some things to learn during her “suspension” period before God “remembered” her. In Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, we read, “God remembered Rachel in the best time for her, after he had taught her the lessons of dependence and patience.” Those are two lessons I continue to learn.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers goes so far as to say that, “Rachel’s long barrenness had probably humbled and disciplined her; and, cured of her former petulance, she trusts no longer to ‘love-apples,’ but looks to God for the great blessing of children.”
There are times in our lives when we long to have something (a husband, a baby, a house, an answer…) and it feels like our prayers and our longings are falling on deaf ears. It can feel like God has forgotten us. But has He? Never.
What if His delay in providing the desire of our heart or answering our question is to give us time to learn something (dependence, trust, humility…)?
What if His delay is to allow time for other things to come together so that when He provides or answers, it’s complete? I think of the seemingly long season when I waited for a husband. Perhaps I was ready but my future prince charming was not quite there yet and then, he was.
Regardless of the reason for a “suspension” of God’s favor, we have to know that He has not forgotten us. We are far too precious, as His children, to be forgotten. His mercy will return.
I love how Barnes Notes on the Bible talks about the idea of “remembered.” “Remembered – this means that God was moved by their prayers to give effect to the covenant, of which an essential condition was the faith and contrition involved in the act of supplication. The whole history of Israel is foreshadowed in these words: God heard, remembered, looked upon, and knew them. It evidently indicates the beginning of a crisis marked by a personal intervention of God.”
God hears us, is moved by our prayers and intervenes. How incredible is that?
So if you, or someone you know is feeling forgotten by God, know that He is ever mindful of us. We have to believe that in time, He will bestow His favor on us again and all will be as it should be.
So the next time you see, “and God remembered” in Scripture, I hope you remember this blog post.
Let’s go be radiant this week!
Go Be Radiant 