Word for the Week

Has his unfailing love vanished forever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?

Psalm 77:8-9

Pain makes us wonder if God has forgotten to care about us. 

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast

and have no compassion on the child she has born?

Though she may forget, 

I will not forget you!

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; 

your walls are ever before me.

Isaiah 49:15-16

God doesn't forget to be compassionate, but sometimes His compassion is obscure and hard to recognize. When you consider your difficult trials, it may be hard to understand how God can truly care if he lets it remain. Why doesn't He show his compassion in a way we'd recognize? Could God be showing His compassion by allowing your pain to remain rather than by removing it? We often assume God's apparent inactivity in our situation is evidence of His neglect, when it really may be His way of showing compassion to protect you, provide for you, or preserve you.

~ Jennifer Rothschild in Missing Pieces: Real Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense, week 1, day 1, pages 11-13