Living His Word

Isaiah 49:16 ERV: I drew a picture of you on my hand. You are always before my eyes.

When we go through the trials, troubles, and tribulation of life there is always the temptation to think that God has forgotten us. In Isaiah 49:14, for example, the people of Zion are quoted as saying, “The Lord has left me; the Lord has forgotten me.” During such times, we tend to think that God is far away from us, that He does not really care for us, and that He has forgotten all about us. Although it may not seem like it at times, the message of Isaiah is that nothing could be further from the truth.

In order to illustrate his point, in an earlier verse Isaiah drew an analogy between a mother and her child and God and His people. He quotes God as saying, ‘“Can a woman forget her baby? Can she forget the child that came from her body? Even if she can forget her children, I cannot forget you” (Isaiah 49:15). God’s memory of us, in other words, is even greater than a mother’s memory of her children. Psalm 27:10 says, “Even if my mother and father leave me, The LORD will take me in.” We are God’s children, and He cannot forget us because we are the “apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

In order to press home his point, Isaiah quotes God as saying that “I drew a picture of you on my hand.” God, one might say, has a tattoo of us on his hand. The image is meant to convey the idea that God cannot put His hand to anything without being reminded of us. Far from forgetting about us, God cares so much that He tattooed His hand with our pictures.

Thus, we are always before the eyes of the Lord. Although God may allow the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life into our lives, we should not draw the conclusion from this that He does not care about us and that He has forgotten about us. Indeed, “The LORD will lead you. He himself is with you. He will not fail you or leave you. Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid!”(Deuteronomy 31:8).

God really cares about us. God has not forgotten us. He has the pictures of us to prove it.