God Remembers What You Forgot
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me." — Psalm 138:8
A Covenant Made Before a Life Began
Two people married late, in their thirties, and had a son when the wife was forty. The doctor told her she could have no more children.
They were not content with that verdict. About a year later they knelt together and made a covenant with the Lord. They promised Him that if He would give them another child, they would understand that the child had been brought into the world for one reason only — to serve the Lord all its life. They also told Him they would understand that the child did not belong to them but to God, and that they would teach the child the terms of the covenant.
They kept their word. God kept His.
The child was born.
A Covenant Under Attack
The attack began immediately. The parents were told the baby would not live to her first birthday. But God kept the covenant, and she lived.
She never remembered feeling well once in her whole life. She spent most of her childhood in and out of hospital. Her parents simply trusted God to keep His side, and He did.
Some of her earliest memories were of her mother telling her soberly about the covenant — holding her by the shoulders, looking straight into her eyes, and saying:
"Daughter, you do not belong to us. You belong to God. You were brought into this world for one reason only, and that is to serve the Lord God all of your life. Don't you ever forget that."
The Years the Covenant Was Forgotten
Then came the troubles of the teenage years, and the covenant was forgotten — by both parents and daughter alike.
But not by God.
She left home at twenty-six and went to university, excited by every opportunity in front of her and fully intending to explore all of them.
Within the first week, God put His hand on her life so powerfully that she was utterly miserable. She knew she was not right with Him and did not know what to do about it.
She had not been thinking about the covenant. God had. He had remembered it for a quarter of a century and He collected on it in her first week away from home.
What This Means For You
This is one of the most encouraging truths in this whole study, and it cuts several ways.
If someone covenanted with God over you, that covenant is still in force whether or not you or they remember it. God has not forgotten it, and He will not.
If you covenanted with God years ago and have not thought about it since, He is still holding it.
If you have children, you may covenant with God over them — and the covenant will outlast your memory, your influence, and possibly your life.
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." (Psalm 138:8)
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6)
Point to Ponder
She was not thinking about the covenant. God had remembered it for twenty-five years and He collected.
Verse to Remember
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." — Philippians 1:6
Question to Consider
Has anyone ever prayed something over my life that God has not forgotten?
Today's Practice
Three things today.
Ask. If your parents or grandparents are living, ask them directly: did you ever pray anything specific over me? Did you ever promise God anything about me? You may be astonished by the answer. Write down what you learn.
Remember. Go back over your own life for anything you once promised God and stopped thinking about. Bring each one back before Him today.
Covenant. If you have children, grandchildren, or young people entrusted to you, consider whether God is asking you to covenant over them. Pray about it — do not do it lightly, and do not do it because you read about it here. But if He leads you, write it out, date it, and teach them the terms as they grow.
That last part is not optional. Those parents did not merely make the covenant; they told the child about it repeatedly, in words she remembered her whole life.
Prayer
Father, You remember what I have long forgotten. You hold agreements I let slip out of mind decades ago.
Thank You for anyone who ever prayed over me before I could pray for myself. I may never know who they were or what they asked. You know, and You have not forgotten a word of it.
Bring back to my mind whatever I have promised You. Collect what is Yours.
And for the young people You have put in my care — teach me how to pray over them, and give me the courage to tell them plainly that they belong to You and were brought into this world to serve You.
You will perfect that which concerns me. You began the work; You will finish it. I rest in that. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
"Daughter, you do not belong to us. You belong to God." Some children need to be told that, repeatedly.