He keeps His promises a thousand times

God is so kind to bring scripture and truth to us when we most need them. I read the following entry from "Morning By Evening" by Charles Spurgeon Tuesday morning, when I was desparately in need of encouragement:

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." -Isaiah 49:16

"No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word "See," is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God's favored people?

The Lord's loving word of rebuke should make us blush; He cries, "How can I have forgotten you, when I have engraved you on the palms of my hands? How dare you doubt My constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon My very flesh?" O unbelief, how strange a marvel you are! We do not know which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of His people. He keeps His promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt Him. He never fails; He is never a dry well; He is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor.....Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of His hands. "I have engraved you." It does not say, "your name." The name is there but that is not all; "I have engraved you." See the fullness of this! I have engraved your person, your image, your situation, your circumstances, your sins, your temptations, your weaknesses, your wants, your works; I have engraved you, everything about you, all that concerns you; I have put you altogether there. Will you ever say again that your God has forsaken you when He has engraved you upon His own palms?"

Ian's image and situation are engraved on God's hands. Our weaknesses and needs are engraved on God's hands. He will never forsake us. Be encouraged by God's unending faithfulness and goodness.

-Larissa