As we close this March series, I want to leave you with an important truth: God has not forgotten you – even in moments when it feels like he has.

 

In June last year, NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams (58) and Barry Wilmore (61) embarked on what was supposed to be a short, eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Their return trip was scheduled aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, shortly after their arrival, technical failures forced the Starliner to return to Earth – without them. What was meant to be a brief mission stretched to 284 days before they were finally brought home.

 

When their capsule splashed down in the ocean, something remarkable happened – a pod of dolphins surrounded them, as if to welcome them back.

 

Sometimes, life’s challenges leave us feeling stranded – cut off from people and even from God, much like those astronauts. We may wonder: Does God still see me? Does he hear my prayers? But his Word assures us in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And in Ephesians 3:18-19 we read: ["May you] grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

 

No matter what you are facing today, God sees you, he loves you and he has not forgotten about you. One day, when we enter his presence, every hardship, disappointment and tear will be wiped away. And just as the dolphins greeted the astronauts, we will be welcomed by the heroes of faith who have gone before us – leading us straight to the One who is our everything.

 

May you never doubt how deeply loved and remembered you are.

 

Prayer: Father God, thank you for your unfailing love. Even when I feel alone, I trust that you see me and that you have not forgotten me. Help me to know you more deeply and to experience your love in a real way. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.