The First Tattoo

 “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! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV

Several years ago when my husband and I were at a sale, I happened to notice tattoos on the arm of a man who was there. I’d seen different tattoo designs before but never like his. There were 4 tattooed names down his left arm, one under the other: Betty, Susan, Amy and Nancy. But it was hard to read them because across each name was a tattooed line. 

So I struck up a conversation and asked him what it meant. He said “Well Betty was my first girlfriend but she cheated on me when I was in the service. And then Susan was my first wife but we just didn’t get along, ya know.” He told me about the last two names but I don’t remember why they didn’t work out. I just had to ask: “So the line you had tattooed across each one?” And he shrugged and said “I don’t care about them any more so I just got rid of them that way. I don’t even think about their names on my arm any more.”

And then I read Isaiah 49:15-16. I love it for so many reasons. Immediately I can see that it is the first recorded tattoo in the Bible. God’s tattoo of our names on the palms of his hands! Then my eyes are drawn to the word “engraved.” Not written in pencil which can be erased or ink which can fade. There is no line drawn through our names to show that we have done something to cause Him to never  care about or think of us again. But engraved by the God of the Universe because He loves us that much. 

Do you feel forgotten? Unloved? Alone? Perhaps it seems like no one truly understands your heartache and pain and you have nowhere to turn. Never forget that God has your very name engraved on His hands for a reason: to let you know that He will never leave you or forget you and He loves you more than you can ever imagine.  

Father, thank you for loving me so much that you would find a way to show me you will never leave me or forget me. I love you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like you were completely alone and no one cared about you and what you were going through?

• Where did you turn to first for help and why?

Apply

• Memorize Isaiah 49:15-16 for those times when you are struggling with something in your life.

• Write this Scripture on the palm of your hand during your prayer time for a week and praise the Lord and thank Him for never forgetting your name.

Power

• Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV “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! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” 

• Psalm 56:8 (NIV) “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll - are they not in your record?”

• Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”