Thursday, July 23, 2020

COUNSELOR'S CORNER: "WILL GOD FORGET ME?"


Counselor's Corner

Will God Forget Me?

                It was a Sunday evening at about 5 O’clock. I was at home engaged in some writing. Suddenly my mobile phone rang. I picked it up and found an unfamiliar female voice. The voice at the other end said, “Uncle, I am Riya. I am a final year nursing student. I listened to your message on Family Life at the Sisters’ Camp near our town last week. It touched me in many ways.  I identified with that emotionally wounded girl you mentioned from Jeremiah 8:21 and thought of calling you to tell you my story. May be you can guide me to find healing for my wounded heart. I have no body to share these burdens at home or in the assembly”.

                “Surely, Riya!  Thanks for calling. Please tell me your concerns and we can together find answers to your difficulties with the help of God” I replied.

                So Riya started narrating her burdens with a soft and painful voice mixed with sobbing. Here is a child of God born in a believers’ family. She lost her mother in her infancy. She has no siblings. She grew up somehow with the help of neighbors and distant relatives.  Her father has been a Christian worker and was rarely home to take her of her. Added to that, he was quite unapproachable and he never gave her any love and caring. He also dealt with her in anger and irritation most of the time and often shouted at and punished and cursed her brutally. When she was about six years old, she got a stepmother who was very nice and caring, but was no equal to one’s own mother. There were very few girls in her age group in their church and no believer friend in her school years and in the nursing college. So all these years, Riya grew up friendless and had no one to talk openly or share burdens. She felt very lonely and lived as if no one wanted or cared for her.

                Riya’s father’s cruel and angry nature made it difficult for even prevented her home to have regular family prayer. She yearned to have a time to sit together with members of the family to sing comforting and encouraging songs, reading the Bible and pray, but often she was denied such opportunities. Riya felt very lonely and desired for love and care and a time of fellowship, but it seems no one was around to encourage and support her. She missed her mother so much and a sibling too. She felt unwanted and uncared for. During her lonely hours, she used to sit and cry, but no one was around to see her tears. She lived with emotional pain and loneliness. She thought her future looked bleak and she found meaninglessness in life. She often wondered about the meaning of life. It was at the peak of such feelings that she heard my message and felt it worth to try and speak to me to get prayer support and encouragement.

                I started praying as to how I should help this lonely, friendless and agonizing young believer who deserved support, strength and empowering to live a victorious Christian life. So I responded in the following manner:
                “Riya, it is good that you decided to call me. I am truly sorry that you are going through loneliness and friendlessness. I have come across many young believers, both male and female, who feel exactly how you feel because they have no friends, siblings and even parents. But please do not feel that your God has also abandoned you. Even if the whole world forgets you, He will not. He is your creator and redeemer and He cares for you like the apple of His eyes. Please read the following verses to understand this: Psalms 17:8, Zachariah 2:8, Deuteronomy 32:10. These will encourage you in your present situation”.

                “Also, Riya, we see that there are many lonely and burdensome people in the Bible who were not forgotten by God. Let’s take the case of Noah in the book of Genesis. I am sure you know the story of Noah from your Sunday school days”. I said.

                “Yes, uncle, I remember the story of Noah and the ark during the flood”, Riya said.

                “Yes” I continued. “Noah and his family faced an uncertain future while they were in the ark. God had a great plan for them even though they were not told about it.  They didn’t know for how long they had to be in the ark and where and when it would end. Their ark was floating and so the journey was quite unstable and shaky. The ark kept jerking and the direction was not at all steady. The family of Noah was in the ark for roughly 371 days. That’s almost a year of uncertainty. There was no world and no environment and no future for them. Their journey was almost like the uncertainties of today’s Covid-19 situation without any end. But they were sustained by their ardent faith in God who helped them prepare the ark and gave them direction, with provision and protection. God made sure that water would not enter the ark. You see, Riya, what led them during the flood was their unfeigned trust and faith in God’s power to keep them safe and to provide for their bright future. Hope you understand the real message of this incident. God never forgot Noah and He remembered him and his family and even the other living beings in the ark (Genesis 8:1)”.

                “We can see that God had already prepared a fertile land for them to cultivate when they come out of the ark. There were provisions for them to worship God and offer sacrifices. There was a blue sky with a beautiful rainbow which is to be a great promise for the future. Even though they were contained in an ark for over a year, now they are given the whole world to enjoy. This God is our God and He will prepare a nice future for us also. He will be with us during our times of gloom, to prepare us to wait for the future. While Noah was in the ark, God was preparing Noah and his family to accomplish great things for Him. So Riya, the God of Noah is with you today. He knows that you are lonely and enduring pain, but soon it will all be over. God has great plans for you. Your time now is to meditate on and study His Word and grow in faith and in a richer relationship with God”.

                Riya was listening keenly and responding with sighs and sounds of nod as I was speaking. So I continued: “Riya, I want to remind you of two women who felt abandoned and friendless like you. They are Rachel, wife of Jacob and Hannah, wife of Elkanah. I am sure you know much about them”.

                “Yes, I know something about them, uncle”, Riya responded, “Please tell me about how they handled their situations”.

                “OK. These two women were childless also. Rachel, for example, tried all her tactics to become a mother. She had jealousy towards her sister who was blessed with many children. She even quarreled with her husband about her situation. But none of these helped her to get the blessing of a child. She endured mockery and felt deeply frustrated in her helplessness. Finally she prayed to God who remembered her in her sad situation and blessed her with two children (Genesis 30:22). You see, Riya, her human efforts didn’t help her at all, but when she put her complete faith and trust in God and submitted her need to God, He remembered her and answered her prayer. She got a son by the name Joseph, who later became the savior of Jacob and his clan as he became the Prime Minster of Egypt”.

                “That’s very nice, uncle” said Riya. “She should have actually prayed at the very beginning rather than trying out her own methods, engaging in quarrel with her husband and schism with her sister”, she added.

                “It’s very true. Hannah, the second woman I mentioned also resorted to prayer during her time of frustration and loneliness and as she endured mockery. But she prayed relentlessly and vowed that what God gives her will be given back to God in His service. As Hannah prayed without ceasing, God remembered her with her tears, loneliness, pain and mockery. Her passionate prayers (1 Samuel 1:19) were answered. God gave her a child whom she gave back to God as His servant. As a reward for this, God gave her five more children (1 Samuel 2:21). In both these cases, God honored the faith of these women and answered their prayers. Such prayer and faith can be seen as the key to open the doors of God’s blessings to them. God proved to both Rachel and Hannah that He will not forget His children who go through difficult situations”.

                Riya quickly said, “Praise God for answered prayers. But uncle, may I ask you a question?”

                “Surely, please ask”, I replied.

                “Uncle, please tell me how I can be absolutely sure that God will answer my prayers for removal of my loneliness and friendlessness”? Riya asked.

                “Sure, Riya”, I said, and continued, “It is certain that God will remember his suffering children like you because it is written in God’s Word which is eternally settled in heaven (Psalms 119:89). Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 that even if the heaven or the earth pass away, His words will by no means pass away. The Bible says that none of the promises of our God will lose its power (2 Corinthians 1:20). If you live by trusting in the God who remembered and never forgot Noah, Rachel and Hannah and live by faith in Him and pray, He will answer your prayers and meet all your needs. Your anxiety, feeling of loneliness, frustration and friendlessness will all be taken away from your mind by God. He will give you believers for fellowship and prayer partners to pray together. If you pray for your father by faith, God will help him to extend to you love and compassion.

                Riya said, “Uncle, please give me one more verse from the Bible for my peace, courage and comfort”.

                “A verse that has helped me a lot in my times of loneliness and frustration is seen in Psalms 42:5. This verse reassures us that in our times of frustration and depression, if we pray, God will remove it and give us a joyful and purposeful life. Psalms 34:5 says that God will remove all darkness from the hearts of His children and fill them with His light. These two verses will give you peace, joy and satisfaction in life that your God who leads you will never leave nor forsake you. He is the best friend of all lonely people in this world to fill their lives with heavenly blessings. It includes you also, dear Riya.” I concluded.

                “Thank you, uncle, for helping me to understand that my God will never forget me and that His promises are unchangeable in all my circumstances. Praise God!”, Riya said in closing.

                “Riya, please make sure to daily read and meditate on the verses I mentioned earlier. Your God will never leave you nor forsake you as Jesus said in John 14:18. So be strong and courageous as God told Joshua in Joshua 1:9”, I said in response.

                “OK, uncle, thanks for your help. I shall remember you in my prayers as I am sure you will pray for God to take away my loneliness and friendlessness. Bye uncle” Riya said at the end.

                Thus our conversation ended.

Dear Readers:

You are probably going through loneliness, friendlessness, fear, uncertainty, tension, tears and frustration during this lock-down period because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But you don’t have to feel that way, because God Almighty is with you and His angels encompass around you. He will carry you through these hard and difficult times. The God who didn’t forget Noah, Rachel and Hannah will not forget you, but will remember you and meet all your needs. His promises are ever sure and secure. May God help you to depend on these promises and live a victorious Christian life!