“As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him: for He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14)
All parents, more often than not, would recall something that they should have done for one of their children but did not do – even though it was not intentional. God our Father did the same on a number of occasions – at times when His children must have thought he had deserted them. God never forgets, nor does He come on the scene late. It is just that human beings are prone to always hurrying. God is known for acting in the fullness of time; – meaning at the appropriate time.
God was displeased with the behaviour of the Children of Israel. For in spite of Noah’s repeated warnings for the people to change their ways -- over a span of 120 years; no one paid heed. Therefore, when the rains leading to the flood began they were caught unawares. Except for Noah and his three sons accompanied by their wives, no one else survived.
Now, it rained for forty days but it was after the 150th day that “God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that was with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth and the water receded.” (Genesis 8:1)
This was a tragic event in the annals of the Children of Israel’s history. God wiped out a whole nation for its stubbornness – for failing to listen to His word. “He is patient with [us], not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
When God called Abraham, Lot his nephew went with him. He was not part of the plan. However, not very long afterwards, they could not stay together any longer. Unending quarrels among their herdsmen ensued and Abraham and Lot had to go their separate ways. Lot unbeknown to him chose to live in Sodom and Gomorrah, twin cities renown for very low morals.
Abraham had pleaded with God not to strike out Sodom and Gomorrah after he asked if ten righteous people were found in the cities whether God would stay His hand. Abraham assumed that there were at least a minimum of ten good people there which of course included Lot, his spouse and their two daughters. Unfortunately, there were not. However Lot benefitted from Abraham’s relationship with God to have been rescued from the disaster, just in the nick of time.
In fact, the angels that were sent to carry out the operation had to literally drag Lot and his family out of the scene or else they would have been consumed. “So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19:29)
In the above incidences, we observe God punishing the wicked for their acts of disobedience to His instructions following several warnings to God’s people to live “righteous and sober lives.” In the Old Testament we witness God -- who is a merciful God, deal a heavy blow on perpetrators of evil – in particular those who challenged His laid-down rules of behaviour.
The Bible records that God remembered Rachel. Rachel was the daughter of Laban, Jacob’s uncle. Jacob was in love with Rachel and wanted her as wife. Jacob loved Rachel, but the day of the wedding, he found out in the morning that he had been given Leah, the elder sister as wife in keeping with the tradition. He had worked seven years to marry Rachel but ended up marrying Leah. He had to put in another seven years of work in order to marry Rachel whom he should have married in the first instance. At this juncture, God stepped in. “When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.” (Genesis 29:31)
Imagine Rachel’s misery. She had to offer her maid to her husband to bear children on her behalf. Then God had compassion on her. “Then God remembered Rachel; He listened to her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son whom she called Joseph, which means — God has taken away my disgrace.” (Genesis 30:22)
The Children of Israel had been a very stubborn lot. God told father Abraham one day: “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Genesis 15:13-16)
The allotted time that the Israelites should have spent in slavery had been exceeded by thirty years when God remembered His covenant with Abraham. “The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help - because of their slavery - went to God. God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.” (Exodus 2:23-25)
It was at his point that God appointed Moses whom He had encountered on Horeb, the mountain of God to give him an assignment though Moses at the start, he was reluctant to execute. “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering ....” (Exodus3:6-7)
Nothing is hidden from God; remember He sees in light as well as in darkness ... “for darkness is as light to You.” (Psalm 139:12) wrote David the Psalmist.
Whatever circumstances you may be going through at this time, do not for a moment think that help is not forthcoming. Take your case to the Lord in prayer. God wants to work everything out for our good. His primary concern is that none of His sheep should be lost to the devil. His desire is that all should come to the knowledge of the truth that He is the Only wise God who is eternal in nature and who reigns over heaven and earth – His creation.
And so I urge you dear reader to ask God: “Put me in remembrance.” (Isaiah 43:26) I recommend that you begin to state your case to Him - for He has a listening ear. Then matters will begin to turn around for you. God will do the needful for He is concerned about everyone’s welfare. “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them .....” (Exodus 3:7) Lord remember me!