God gives us a description of His faithfulness in Isaiah 49:15–16. He says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. . .”
Can a woman forget her baby, or desist from being merciful to her young child? The answer to this question is “no.” Even through evil forces try to convince some women not to keep their children, there is an overriding maternal instinct. A mother focuses all her thoughts and attention on her small children. So God is telling us in very tender language, “As a woman cannot forget her own children, and as she retains her love and compassion for them, I will never forget you.”
The ties between God and His sons and daughters are stronger than even those between a mother and her young children. He goes on to say that we are engraved on the palms of His hand, meaning in the clouds, so that we are always in His sight.[1] He is always with us, always aware of us, and nothing can separate us from His love. And regarding our children, Jesus says that their angels are always before the Heavenly Father. He loves them and they are always before Him (Matt. 18:10).
How God loves us and our children! Take a moment and let this reality invade your thoughts and emotions. Let God reveal the depths of His love your heart.
In the midst of Isaiah’s prophecies to the nation of Israel, speaking of their sin and captivity, their restoration and the future kingdom, God affirms His faithful love for them. Not matter where they are in their journey as His people, He will always love them and watch over them. This is an important lesson for believers in Jesus to understand. For God loves us in this faithful way. Therefore, He says, “My faithfulness and responsibility for you is greater than even a mother’s love. I will not forget you.”
Parents are commanded to bring up their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). As parents we must understand that the “Lord’s discipline and instruction” is with the nurturing quality of His unwavering love. Consider this statement about our Lord Jesus regarding the love He had for His disciples—those to whom He was bringing discipline and instruction. “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He loved them completely and faithfully as a mother who loves and cares for her young child. And He commands us to love each other and to love our children in the same way.
Now the question arises, “How can I love with the faithful love that belongs to God?” First, receive His love in the depths of your heart and allow the fruit of that love grow in you. Second, through the Holy Spirit you can continually receive this love as He enables you can lay aside your human nature and take on the nature of your Heavenly Father. For He is our Father, and we are His children who have the great privilege and responsibility to love just as He loves us (Matt. 5:43–45; John 13:34; 1 John 4:19).
[1] Ibn Ezra on Isaiah 49:16:1
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