Don’t Forget!

 

…you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt… Deuteronomy 7:18

 

Someone near and dear to me was going through a scary time of symptoms and tests, waiting for a diagnosis.  I talked to her the day she was going for the first test.  She told me that she had received assurance from God that she was going to be fine.  She did not know if she was about to discover a life threatening diagnosis or something easy to treat.  What she was sure of was that, either way, God was in it and He would use it for good.

Remember while Waiting

I stayed in touch with her as usual over the next few weeks. The process was long and drawn out in between doctor’s appointments.  At one point, she became afraid and started to worry about the outcome.

What a gift that she had told me about God’s assurance to her that all would be well in the end.  I reminded her of her own words about it.  She had forgotten!  That’s hard to believe, isn’t it?  When God gives us those very personal promises, wouldn’t you think that we would remember?

Forgetting the Good

Instead, we are like the Israelites.  God brought them out of Egypt with wealth He had the Egyptians hand them as they left (Exodus 12:36), He parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and provided manna and quail for them to eat (Exodus 16).  The list goes on and on but when Moses was gone a few days too long, they forgot all of it and built the golden calf. They worshipped it, forgetting God and all He had done for them!

Forgetting seems to be part of human nature.  God gives us blessings in big and small ways and we forget quickly, looking for something else to bring us happiness.  Some of us turn to other people, some to work or money or food.  We forget that it is God who helps us, comforts us, keeps us, provides for us, and blesses us.

One of the promises of the Christian life is that there will be difficulties. The world hated Jesus so they will hate His followers.  Our physical bodies will fail us and there will be sickness. Other people will disappoint us and deceive us. This world is fallen and we live in it.  Stuff will happen to us and we will do stuff that we will regret.

God’s Faithfulness

God is faithful to us in the tests of faith that are common to all of us.  We can endure them because He will help us through.  What we have to do is remember to turn to Him and ask Him for help.

When we remember how God has already provided for us, we will be more likely to trust Him in our next trial. Then, when it’s over and we have seen Him work, let’s remember to be grateful and praise our faithful God for His steadfast love. 

So, don’t forget what He has done for you. Maybe we all need to tell someone so they can remind us when we need it.  Whom will you tell?