"But Zion said, 'The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, but I will not forget thee. Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." Isaiah 49: 14-16
It is not at all difficult to doubt God's love, to doubt His goodness; it takes no strength of character, no boldness of will. It is the easiest thing to do, chiefly because common sense facts are constantly shouting against God all the time. What Zion said (vs. 14) was fully based on common sense facts: Jerusalem was actually destroyed, and its inhabitants were actually all taken captive. Those were not hypothetical scenarios; they actually happened in time and space.
Christians must realize (and utilize) the common sense that is above common sense, i.e., the common sense of faith, the common sense that reckons two more facts in its thinking: (1) God is real and (2) God is good. Human common sense sees only the destroyed walls; the common sense of faith sees that the walls "are continually before" the eyes of God, that he is forever blazing aware of the current situation. Human common sense sees only the desolate and forsaken city; the common sense of faith hears God say, "I will not forget thee" with a remembrance even greater than a mother has for the child that she is nursing.
The enemy will always point you to your real, actual, space-time circumstances and happenings; God will always point you to Himself, the Happening at the center of all happenings. Even more so, He will point you to the real, actual, space-time circumstance and happening that is the Cross, the place where He permanently engraved you upon His hands, and His feet, and His side. If ever you easily doubt the love and goodness of your Father, look upon those wounds and hear Him say, "I will not forget thee; your life is continually before me."
"Upon Your hands
My name is engraved in Red.
If ever I doubt You,
Let me feel those wounds
And believe..."
-Jon Vowell
It is not at all difficult to doubt God's love, to doubt His goodness; it takes no strength of character, no boldness of will. It is the easiest thing to do, chiefly because common sense facts are constantly shouting against God all the time. What Zion said (vs. 14) was fully based on common sense facts: Jerusalem was actually destroyed, and its inhabitants were actually all taken captive. Those were not hypothetical scenarios; they actually happened in time and space.
Christians must realize (and utilize) the common sense that is above common sense, i.e., the common sense of faith, the common sense that reckons two more facts in its thinking: (1) God is real and (2) God is good. Human common sense sees only the destroyed walls; the common sense of faith sees that the walls "are continually before" the eyes of God, that he is forever blazing aware of the current situation. Human common sense sees only the desolate and forsaken city; the common sense of faith hears God say, "I will not forget thee" with a remembrance even greater than a mother has for the child that she is nursing.
The enemy will always point you to your real, actual, space-time circumstances and happenings; God will always point you to Himself, the Happening at the center of all happenings. Even more so, He will point you to the real, actual, space-time circumstance and happening that is the Cross, the place where He permanently engraved you upon His hands, and His feet, and His side. If ever you easily doubt the love and goodness of your Father, look upon those wounds and hear Him say, "I will not forget thee; your life is continually before me."
"Upon Your hands
My name is engraved in Red.
If ever I doubt You,
Let me feel those wounds
And believe..."
-Jon Vowell
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