TRUST IN GOD (PART 8)
"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." - Isa 49:15)
Now, we have had it stated that one of the reasons why men put their trust in God is because of His unfailing, endearing and adorable attributes by which men are attracted to His Person. In our parts 4 & 7 in the series, published on 28/7/2023 and 2/8/2023, respectively, we noted that every promise of God is built upon four pillars, among which is that God’s Grace or Goodness will not suffer Him to forget. It's never part of God to forget to fulfill His promises.
Having spoken about God's Justice and Holiness which will not suffer Him to deceive, today we are looking at His Grace or Goodness, which will not as well permit Him to forget His promises to us. But it's imperative that we understand that there's a marked relationship between God's Grace and His Goodness towards us.
As Christians, the Grace of God that we enjoy is simply because of His goodness towards us. This is why most times, Grace is defined as God's unmerited favor; something we never really merited. In other words, there are certain benefits we enjoy from God because of His goodness to us, rather than because of our merit or effort. For instance, in relation to salvation, the Bible says as follows:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" - (Eph 2:8). This, in other words, is by reason of God's goodness to us.
Again, in 1 Cor 10:15, Apostle Paul when accounting for his success in ministry attributed it to God's Goodness upon him through Grace.
"But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Cor 15:10). So therefore, the Grace of God that we enjoy as His children is the result of His Goodness to us.
But how does God's Grace or Goodness preclude Him from forgetting His promises made to us?
The Lord is a good God (Ps 73:1; Lk 18:19). We saw in part 7 that by reason of His Justice and Holiness, it's impossible for Him to deceive. Similarly, when He makes a promise, His Grace or Goodness makes Him not to forget to fulfill it. Why, because He's a compassionate God!
"But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious," ( Ps 86:15). In Isa 49:15, which is our main Scripture for the day, we see " compassion" as the main reason why God cannot forget us.
For instance, consider Sarah. God had promised that a son will be born by her (Gen 17:16). So many years went by and it seemed as though God had forgotten about it. Age had taken a toll on her, so much that naturally, conception was out of the way. Yet, in Gen 21:1, it's written:
"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken." Her eventual conception was the result of God's Grace or Goodness that made it impossible for Him to forget to show her compassion. His Grace, particularly because of the circumstances of Sarah's case; her efforts or ability couldn't have gotten the expectation fulfilled. Old age had stepped in for her and the husband, she'd become the subject of mockery by Haggai, her maid, and so much more she'd gone through!
I've come to understand that a good number, if not all of God's intervention in human affairs is by the working of His Grace. Time will fail me to talk of how God didn't forget Noah, Joseph, even Israel as a nation, etc; despite adverse circumstances.
Child of God, it's soothing to know that God cannot forget His promise unto you. It doesn't matter how long you have waited on Him to perform His promise to you. Though it tarries, wait for it (Hab 2:3). He will perform what He said to do in your life (Num 23:19). What's more, it's the account of God that He makes everything beautiful in His time (Eccl 3:11). Waiting on God is an act of trust in Him. None that waited on Him was ever put to shame; and this shall be your testimony, in Jesus name.
PRAYER:
Lord, I'm deeply grateful that You cannot forget to fulfill my expectations in life, in Jesus name.