Abraham is marking time as years go by / Hiding his pain in laughter / Every night he’s counting stars that fill the sky / So certain his dreams have passed him by / Doubting his vision is not so clear / What did God say, what did I hear / Has heaven forgotten, is God still there / He says learn to trust me
On the album “Mercy”, Bryan Duncan has a song that is sometimes hard to listen to. It is so powerful and heart wrenching. It is called “I’ll Not Forget You”; the two main characters are Sarah and Abraham. Taken by itself, the song might actually be the reverse of hope. It is a song of brokenness, with the characters asking God for answers, seeking the path forward, wondering when and how God will live up to his promises to them.
But we come to the song already knowing the end of the story, the way in which God has fulfilled his promise. This side of Jesus’ life and death, we know that God was completely trustworthy. But as in our own lives, in the midst of trials it can be hard to trust, hard to cling to the hope in his promises. From the very start, Abraham has a hard time accepting God’s message (Genesis 15:2). And Sarah laughs at the thought that she and he could bear a child in their advanced age (Genesis 18:11-12). They even take matters into their own hands to help God’s promise come to fruition (Genesis 16). But God is faithful.
It was by faith that Sarah together with Abraham was able to have a child, even though they were too old and Sarah was barren. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children - a nation with so many people that, like the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.
All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth. And obviously people who talk like that are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had meant the country they came from, they would have found a way to go back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why god is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a heavenly city for them.
When God’s word speaks of trusting, of enduring, of holding onto hope, it is not overly rosy. It is not painting a pretty picture and denying reality. We all have to deal with pain and suffering. It is a “feature” of our sin-broken world. It is not always a punishment. But it is always under God’s control. He will give us the strength to bear up under it. We can hold onto hope because we know the faithfulness of our God.
And God’s answer to Abraham and Sarah in the song? It is an intensely personal reply; one that speaks to many today:
I’ll not forget you when you walk alone / I’ll not forget you when you break inside / I’ll not forget you when a loved one dies / I’ll not forget you when your youth has gone / I’ll not forget you in an empty home
What is our hope based on? God knows us personally - we are his - he will not forget about us. If you are struggling to understand God’s will in your life today, finding it difficult to understand God’s purpose in the circumstances of your life, I want to encourage you to hold on to hope. Jesus is our prize, and a treasure that endures. He knows what he is doing and will be faithful, even when we are found lacking in faith. This place is temporary. And pain is a reminder to those in Christ, a reminder that there is a better home awaiting.
And if you have not turned your heart, mind and will over to Jesus today, you can. He is our lasting comfort - the source of hope. He wants to hold us, to let us know how much he shares in our suffering. We can experience God’s compassion, because he longs to give it. As the song offers, “He says learn to trust me…”
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Take a minute to pray for someone who is hurting, emotionally or spiritually. Let it be someone else, if possible - but if you need to pray for your own circumstances, ask God to help you trust him no matter what.