7 * 7 - Remember me....

Psalm 106:4 "Remember me, O Lord, in Your favor toward Your people; visit me with Your salvation."

It's a funny idea asking God to remember you. At first glance, you think "here is the God who made the universe and right now holds all things in His hand, but I'm going to ask Him to remember me?" And yet, there is a profound mystery and grace in this request.

I pondered this all day yesterday, unable to write this post because I was feeling quite forgotten. I spent a lot of the day feeling isolated and alone. I felt like I had no one to turn to, because everyone else in my life had circumstances and situations much graver than my own. Could I go to my friend recovering from surgery and say how I felt sluggish and just not up to snuff, but I didn't know why? Could I go to my mom and add to her shoulders already bearing the weight of caring for my grandmother dying of cancer? Could I go to my husband, waiting to hear about his first job after graduating nursing school and complain about my long work days? We all have our limits and I looked at the loved ones, so stretched around me, and just didn't want to add to their burdens.

This word, "remember", appears in some odd places. Like in Genesis 8 when the earth has been covered by the flood for 150 and then God "remembers" Noah and the ark and causes the water to subside. Or in Exodus 2 when the people of Israel have lived in bondage and God "remembers" His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Does He forget about His people or His promises? Absolutely not! In Isaiah 46 He says "For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is no other like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done,  saying 'My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure' Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it."

These words help us to remember His infinite might and power. God was not distracted on the other side of the universe and suddenly remembered His people, through whom He was bringing the Savior of all mankind. When scripture says God remembers us, it's like me explaining the point of calculus to my 7 year old. I can give her a general idea of something beyond her comprehension by trying to relate it to things she knows, but she cannot go and find the second derivative of an equation on her own. We can get a picture into the purpose and plan of God in scripture, but by no means have understanding of His greatness and infinite wisdom. When God "remembers" us, scripture gives a picture of an intentional time of waiting that His people endured, during which they felt alone or forgotten or distant from their Lord and Savior. It's an act of humility to say "You are ruling the whole of creation by the word of Your power, and yet for some reason, my insignificant mortal life matters to You as well. There is a galaxy singing Your praises, but You still listen to me when I pray."

The best example I can think of is found in Luke 23 when the dying criminal says to Jesus, while hanging on a cross "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!" This cry for mercy is such a moving and desperate statement of faith. The criminal has already confessed his guilt and the justice served by his own death and recognizes Jesus to be the Son of God. He has nothing to offer the King of Kings and Lord of Lords except for his broken heart and public profession of faith. But, as Paul says in Romans 10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." This dying criminal saw the death of Jesus not as a failed ministry, like all the Pharisees and Roman soldiers - but as a victory and a beginning of His reign on high. Indeed, this criminal confesses his belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and Jesus replies "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise."

God understands our feelings of desperation and loneliness. He knows that in the darkest places of our mind, He can feel far away. But praise be to the Lord - that is only a feeling - it isn't truth. He is always with us. When we cry out, Lord, remember me. He kindly answers, "You never were forgotten."

Those people in my life, who I didn't want to burden, all love me and would have gladly been my listening ear. But even more than that, the Maker of heaven and earth, surrounded by the heavenly host singing His praise without end, listened to my cry - and gave me peace.

Cry out to the Lord, He is listening!