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!
