You Are Chosen Not Forgotten
Editor’s Note: This is a guest story by Tracy Acosta. I really hope these devotionals are an encouragement to you at this time. Thanks, Tracy!
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15 (NIV)
When our own family rejects us, we will always have a daddy in heaven who is madly in love with us, our Almighty God.
“We’ve already had you baptized when you were a baby! You ought to stay in this religion for the rest of your life but you chose to disrespect us, to disobey us, to betray us as your parents. From now on, you are no longer my daughter!” My heart was crushed to pieces with a river of tears in my eyes as I received these words from my own mother, the moment I decided to be baptized as a born again Christian.
My life was in a deep and dark valley. Weeks, months and even years have passed and I never had even a single chance to talk to my mother again. I was also working overseas which added to the difficulty of keeping in touch with her.
I decided to be baptized out of obedience to God. The tug of the Holy Spirit within me grew stronger each day when I’d tend to delay my baptism because I couldn’t imagine the depth of my family’s raging reaction.
However, God walked with me through this valley day after day, telling me “Trust me my child, I got you on this.” God is always faithful, He never forgets His promise of divine provision and strength especially during the storms of life. Matthew 6:8 says, “Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (ESV). God knew that my own mother will disown me for obeying Him that even before I went through this hardship, He has already provided me with a loving and anointed spiritual mother. Me and her are of different nationalities but God graciously used her to cover me with His unfailing love, comfort and encouragement every single day.
When we thought that the people closest to our hearts have forgotten us because we chose to obey God, our Father in heaven who knows exactly what we’re going through will never forget us. In fact it is a season of being set apart for the Lord, it is an opportunity for Him to do a marvelous work in your life, for Him to change you from within, to make you the mighty and anointed woman that He wants you to be.
No experience of rejection is wasted (especially from our own family). Remember the story of Joseph when he told his brothers “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (ESV). Simply because He has chosen you. You are God’s anointed and beloved daughter.
Tracy Acosta is from the Philippines but is living and working at a resort hotel in Japan. She is in the early stage of her pursuit in becoming a Christian writer. Aside from writing, she also enjoys listening to worship songs and reading encouraging books from Christian authors. She loves to drink milk and honey combo as a sweet alternative and whenever she sees sunflowers, her heart would dance with joy.