We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…
--2 Corinthians 4:8-9
I’ll never forget being awakened one night by a call from one of our best friends at church. She was sobbing uncontrollably. So Deb and I got on the phone together and she told us that her husband – one of my very best friends and a leader in our church – was abandoning his family and running off with a 19-year-old girl.
I got up immediately, went to their home, and tried to talk sense into him. But he was determined, so he left. Over the next several weeks, Deb and I counseled and comforted this precious lady. And I remember in our living room one day she looked at us and said, “I don’t know how I’ll ever be happy again.”
I looked right at her and said, “I don’t know exactly how either. But I promise you that if you will give your life to the Lord’s service, God will restore your joy.”
So she devoted herself to raising her family, working, and serving at the church. And she met a man and God gave them love for one another. The time came when they stood at an altar together and I was able to remind her at that time of the promise that one day, you’ll be happy again.
You may be going through a rough time today. But whatever it is, you can cling to that promise as well. Remember that no matter what, God will restore your joy as you serve Him faithfully. It may take time, but He’ll do it!
WHATEVER TRIAL YOU’RE EXPERIENCING TODAY, CLING TO GOD AND HE’LL RESTORE YOUR JOY COMPLETELY!
God Never Forgets
Saturday, January 11, 2020
by Dr. Paul Chappell
"But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."
Isaiah 49:14-16
In a momentary panic of not finding anything to write on, most of us have written down a name or a number on our hands, or at least seen someone else do it. Invariably those numbers are hard to read. By their nature they are temporary and sweat or water or food or something else may erase them even before they are used. As a result, what we had hoped to remember has been lost.
When it comes to God, things are different. At a time when the Jewish people were suffering from the consequences of their sins and thinking that God had abandoned them, God gave the prophet Isaiah a message the people needed to hear. God promised His people He would never forget them, using the metaphor of writing on hands—not with a temporary ink, but an engraving that would be lasting and permanent.
All of us have days of trials and troubles. And in those days we are tempted to think that God has turned away from us and does not remember our plight. That false belief frequently leads to sin as we take matters into our own hands rather than trusting in God. Saul did this when Samuel was delayed in arriving at Gilgal. “Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:12). God often does not work in the time frame we would prefer, but that never means He has forgotten our needs.
Today's Growth Principle:
We should never allow ourselves to doubt God’s love for us just because He is working in His timing rather than ours.
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