And God Remembered

INTRO: 1. “And God Remembered…” is found in a number of occasions in the Old Testament.

a. It’s said God remembered Noah when he and the animals was floating in the flood.

b. It’s said God remembered Abraham in the wake of Sodom & Gomorrah’s fall.

c. It’s said after Hannah had cried out to God that the Lord remembered her.

c. And here it is said that God remembered Rachael and her desire for children.

2. But what does it mean to say God remembers and what hope does this leave us today?

a. It doesn’t mean that God’s memory is faulty or prone to fail.

b. It doesn’t mean the the ancient of days suffers from a poor memory as a result of age or decline in health.

c. It doesn’t suggest that the all-knowing God is any less all-knowing.

3. But in it’s context I believe it’s meaning is clear.

a. When God remembers he focuses His attention on us and our need.

b. When God remembers he seems to accumulate all our prayers and re-live what He’s seen concerning our need. (pull our file)

Ex. 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

c. When God remembers he comes to a point of action on our behalf. (not sentiment)

4. A few things notice about God remembering Rachael here in our text.

5. When God remembered her…

a. He heard her…not just that day, but every prayer she had prayed for that need.

b. He answered her…miraculously turned this barren woman into a mother.

c. He removed her reproach…made it clear that although she had been delayed, she had not been forgtten.

6. Not only did Rachael need this blessing at this time so did Jacob.

a. For 14 years he had lived under the thumb of Rachael’s father who had taken advantage of him, lied to him & attempted to keep him near him for his own gain.

b. 14 years with no encounter with God.

c. No doubt Jacob may have began to feel as if God had forgotten him.

d. When others do you wrong… God hasn’t forgotten you.

e. When your prayers seem unanswered… God hasn’t forgotten you.

f. When days turn to years and little seems to change…God hasn’t forgotten you.

7. But when God remembers you he will also supply blessings within a blessing.

a. As you look back over those years that you thought God was inactive, you will soon discover that he was planting blessings within each blessing for you.

b. Because when God remembers you, he not only gives you what you have asked for, but he gives to you what you never thought to ask for.

c. You see we know the significance of this birth, this was not just any son, this was Joseph…the man of God that would secure Jacob and his family’s future and be used mightily by God.

d. He’s already working on your future.

8. I’m preaching this morning to someone whose heart’s cry is the same as the Psalmist

Ps. 106:4 Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

a. Let’s declare it today… “Remember me, O LORD!”

b. I want to make it clear this morning to you… God remembers.

I. GOD REMEMBERS HIS OWN WORD

a. Man may forget their word and abandon their promises…but God will never.

b. There is nothing in your life that you can take hold of that is any surer than the Word of God.

c. Remember that it would be Joseph that would preserve the covenant for his generation, it wasn’t just an act of grace, it was God acting on his promises.

A. His Word is a SERIOUS MATTER TO GOD.

Is. 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

1. It may merely be a scripture or a text to you, but it’s a promise to God.

2. We cannot even fathom the power of his word…all we see is a result of His word.

3. Jesus reminds us that the earth would pass away before God would allow one jot or title of his word to fail.

4. Stand on the Word…it is surer than the ground you walk upon.

B. HIS PROMISES HAS NO EXPIRATION DATE

1. Another thing about his Word is that it is eternal… it transcends time.

2. So if you hold to His word, it may not be fulfilled today… but it will be fulfilled.

ILL. Ask Abraham about his promise of his children being as the stars in the sky, it’s still being fulfilled today.