Yet Will I

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” (Isa 49:15 AV)

There are three little words I wish to contemplate this morning.  “Yet will I”.  This phrase occurs several times in the word of God. Mostly in the context of God chastening Israel.  I do not wish to consider a specific application of these three words albeit it chastening or blessings.  Rather, the truth is contained solely in these three words.  We often think we are self-determined to the point God’s hands are tied.  We think we are a hopeless cause whom God can never transform.  Or, we think our situation; be it poor health, financial strain, or a wounded spirit; is simply beyond God’s ability to change.  Some ore stubborn might think their lives are theirs to control and determine.  Not so.  Those three little words are God’s words.  He is the one who has the last move.  Nothing is beyond His control.  From our perspective and observation, it may seem the LORD cannot do the impossible, but this is not true in the mind of God.  “Yet will I” is God’s statement to the defiant or faithless human heart.

I have a good friend who lost his wife to cancer.  They posted updates while she struggled.  They did the whole hashtag thing.  I don’t know how that all works, but they had a hashtag that said, “God gets the last word.”  That is another way of saying, “Yet will I”.  They never gave up the fight until the LORD said it was time.  Even now, my friend is back in the pulpit.  He took a month off but was back serving the LORD and others.  When everyone else would have taken much more time off to mourn the passing of their childhood sweetheart, Dale did not.  He was back preaching revivals.  This time, however, with the loss of his life partner and best friend, Dale preaches to packed houses and full altars.  Every sermon is a powerful one.  Every sermon is strengthened immeasurably by the pain and power he experiences.  Why?  “Yet will I”.  A week doesn’t go by that I see a posting on Facebook of a sermon where God used Dale in ways that only eternity could tell.   Lives are changed, hearts are healed, and people come much closer to the LORD than they ever were before.  Why?  “Yet will I”.

It is easy for us to give up.  It is easy to look at our circumstances without a vision of what God can and is doing.  No.  Things may not turn out how we want them to.  Life is full of hardships.  We may struggle with faith or righteousness to the point we are so down on ourselves, that we don’t think God can do a thing with us.  “Yet will I”.  We don’t get the last word.  God does.  We do not determine for God what God can do.  We do not get to throw in the towel.  Elijah learned that the hard way.  He quit on God but God had him serve fifteen more years.  We don’t get to pick the circumstances of our lives.  God does.  Why?  “Yet will I”.  We don’t get to lie down and give up.  We don’t have the right to tell God what is and is not possible.  Why?  “Yet will I”.  We don’t have the right to label a cause as hopeless.  We don’t get to set limits on what God can and cannot do.  We don’t get to lay down, curl up, and hope for the end.  Why?  “Yet will I”.  Next time we give up on God, remember what He said.  “Yet will I.”