One Sunday in Cedar Park, our family came to visit. When I arrived at our house from the church, Melanie asked about our three year old son, “Where’s Chase?” Playing along, I asked, “Where’s Chase?” We forgot Chase at church. Telling him that Jesus’ parents also forgot him did not help in the way I thought it might.
Do you ever feel like you have been forgotten? You are not alone. We may pray, wait, and wonder if God is really listening. It may feel like our prayers are bouncing back from the ceiling. We may even wonder, “Is God there? Does God care?”
Rachel felt that way. As her prolific sister Leah gave birth to child after child, Rachel remained alone. Even Bilhah and Zilpah had given children to Jacob. The way her father deceived Jacob must have compounded her grief. When all hope seemed gone, the narrator tells us that “the Lord remembered Rachel.” He heard her prayers and enabled her to conceive. When the first of her own sons was born she named him, “I’d like another.”
Are you in God’s waiting room? Be assured that he has not finally forgotten you. Continue to pray and seek him. Alfred, Lord Tennyson was right: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” Do not lose hope. God is still on his throne. Cast all your cares on God because he cares for you.
