I left my 7-year-old daughter home alone. Or, at least I thought I did. It was the longest second of my life. I felt a sheer terror that I hope I will never experience again.
I was stuck in traffic going to pick up my daughter from a friend’s house. Her friend only lives a couple of miles down the road. On this particular Saturday, though, there was bumper to bumper traffic on the road I traveled. A 4-minute drive ended up being a 40-minute drive. While I was stuck in the car, I was responding to a text from a friend. His son was battling a pretty significant virus that landed him in the hospital. As I crawled down the street, I was responding to his text messages (don’t remind me, I know the rules). I glanced up in my rearview mirror to take a peek at my daughter. The only problem was she wasn’t there. I immediately thought, “I forgot my daughter! I forgot my daughter at home!” I grabbed the steering wheel to pull off one of those 180 degree turns that I always see guys in pickup trucks make. If someone offered to shoot me out of a canon to get me home, I would’ve taken them up on the offer. And then I foolishly remembered. I didn’t forget my daughter at home. I was actually going to pick her up!
I felt foolish. I had completely spaced out. I forgot. I forgot where I put my daughter! I also felt an immediate sense of relief. Sure, it was only for a brief second, and my fear ended up being misguided, but in that brief moment, my panic was palpable.
Do you know God has never felt that way about you? Not for a second. He’s never had a moment of panic. He’s never “spaced out.” You’ve never misplaced. He’s never been distracted and lost his bearings. He’s never forgotten you.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. (Isa 49:15)
Maybe you feel forgotten today. Remember, the eyes of an all-seeing and all-knowing God are fixed on you. You are not forgotten.