13 January 2008 - Elder Chew Chong Kiat
God Remembers
In the midst of the greatest disaster that wiped out the whole human race stood an ark of testimony of the faithfulness of God to Noah and his family because they believed in God. They had built the ark for a hundred years according to the instructions of the Lord. Those were years of faith. Each day as they labored at the mammoth project, there was no sign of rain, for it had never rained in the world before the flood. All the people around them did not believe and I can imagine them daily mocking and scorning Noah and his family for building the ark on dry land. The workers who worked on the ark also did not believe. The family labored long in the midst of great unbelief. Then at the command of God, they entered into the ark together with the animals. When the door was shut, the rain fell and the fountains of the deep were opened and the earth was flooded and the world that was outside of the ark perished! You can imagine the amazement of the world when the first drop of rain fell from the sky and their realization that Noah was right, but it was too late. The days of salvation were over.
The impact of this incident on Noah and family must have been great as they remained safely in the ark, knowing that all their neighbours, friends and all other living creatures had perished outside the ark in that global flood. Will they likewise perish? Will God spare them? How long must they stay in the ark? What would the world be like after the flood? Perhaps these were some of the questions that went through Noah’s mind. They waited patiently and kept themselves busy with the task at hand of attending to all the animals in the ark. As the days passed, perhaps Noah might have wondered if God had abandoned the earth and all that were in it; and had God forgotten his own?
In the backdrop of the gloom and carnage, The Bible records in Gen. 8:1 , “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark:” Note the last 3 words: In the Ark. God did not forget his own, and those that were in the ark.
So long as we are in our “ark”, the Lord Jesus Christ, the place of refuge from the coming judgment by fire, by grace through faith, God will not forget us.
Luke 12:6 says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” If a common bird like the sparrow is not forgotten, how much more God’s own children?
Do you ever feel that God has forgotten you? You may be so caught up with work and the cares of the world and have forgotten your Creator and because of this you wonder if God has also forgotten you in time of need?
Isa 49:15-16 declares, “15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
Can a woman possibly forget her sucking child? Ask any nursing mother whether she will think about her baby who needs feeding when they are separated. It will be very unnatural if she forgets. Even so, if there is one who can forget, God declares, “Yet will I not forget thee.” To make it more emphatic, God says, Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Spurgeon commented well when he wrote, “Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. "I have graven thee." It does not say, "Thy name." The name is there, but that is not all: "I have graven thee." See the fullness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when He has graven thee upon His own palms?” God remembers the ruined walls of Jerusalem, they were ever before Him. Does God not take cognizance of your state and problems?
He has not forgotten His own and he never will! Take heart!