O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?

~Psalm 13:1 NLT

I would love to say I had never forgotten their names, but I can’t.

As a long-time middle school teacher, I faced the challenge each school year: learning the names of all the new sixth graders, as well as remembering the seventh and eighth graders from the previous years. And if new seventh and eighth graders enrolled, which was typical, I also had to add them to the list of students whose names I had to recall. Seeing some of the students during the summer helped. And, of course, a teacher has no trouble remembering some students. The ones who misbehave, the ones who talk incessantly, or the ones who go above and beyond the call of duty.

The same applied to the students I had taught earlier in my career. Occasionally, I would see them around town. I recognized their faces and often their first names, but the last names were buried in the part of my mind I couldn’t access. Does it bother me? Yes. Can I do anything about it? No. Forgetting, not being able to access some information we’ve learned, is a part of life.

My wife and I witnessed the forgetting thing with my mom after she contracted dementia and then Alzheimer’s. As is typical with Alzheimer’s patients, she could accurately remember things from the distant past but struggled to remember things in the present.

The mind is a beautiful thing, but as our bodies age, our brain cells diminish, and then our minds don’t always function as we desire. Some keep a sharp memory until death, but many witness declining function when it comes to memory.

The psalmist pleaded with God never to forget him because he felt forgotten. Never forget that he knew him and that he belonged to God, but also not to forget him during times of conflict and hardship.

And the fantastic news is that God never forgets us. He knows us before we are born. In fact, he knits us together in our mother’s womb. Whether we turn to him for forgiveness or not, he knows us by name and loves us. If we turn to him in repentance, he loves us in a familial way—and will eternally in the home he has prepared for us.

Nor does God forget us when we face difficult circumstances. He brings or allows them and then walks with us through them—holding our hand and sometimes carrying us. He weaves the elements of our circumstances together so that good results from the bad. We learn valuable lessons. Our faith stretches and then grows. We learn to trust him, even amidst our misunderstanding.

During the challenging times of life, we may feel as if God has forgotten us, but our feelings never mirror reality. We may forget as we age or because of an injury, but God’s memory will always remain in perfect condition.

Find comfort in knowing that with God, you are never forgotten.

Father, thank you for always remembering me.

 

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: Never Forgotten: Martin Wiles: All Rights Reserved