Loneliness: God Won’t Forget

Loneliness: God Won’t Forget

Sometimes the agony of loneliness feels like a switchblade penetrating our souls as it slices up the last bit of hope in the secret places of our hearts. Sometimes the craving for the taste of our mamma’s burritos makes us cry. We wonder if God has forgotten us. We cry out to God like the psalmist who wrote, “Has God forgotten to be kind? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?” (Psalm 77:9).

     When these feelings and thoughts overwhelm us, we can remember Noah during the Flood. Noah felt alone. All he saw was water. God promised him safety, but He never told him the timetable. Noah’s days of waiting were long and excruciating. He must have cried out, as we do, for God to reappear and remember him. Then, the dove returned to the ark with an olive branch in its beak as the sign that God had not forgotten Noah. It was proof God can be trusted (see Genesis 8:6-11).

     This story of Noah offers hope because the floodwaters receded and the mountaintops reappeared. God did not forget Noah, and God does not forget us when we are overwhelmed by the floodwaters of loneliness. God may seem to have vanished, but He is only in the background, working on our behalf. Just because we don’t hear Him doesn’t mean He is not there. And, just because God’s actions don’t fit our plan does not mean that He does not have a plan for us.

     During the darkest moments in our ark of hopelessness, God gives signals that He is faithful. Is it the unexpected gift of a new study Bible? Is it perhaps an unanticipated letter from a forgotten friend or a crayon drawing from a four-year-old neighbor? The signs will be there. God remembers us. He will not forget!