REMEMBER THE GOOD THINGS

by | Mar 9, 2023 | 2011 | 0 comments

Have you ever felt that God has forgotten about you? Perhaps you’ve prayed fervently for him to heal you from an illness or discomfort that persists in spite of all the money you’ve spent on doctors, drugs and alternative medicines. Or maybe it’s about a friend or family member who desperately needs God’s help, and you have explained how deserving he or she is – how they could serve much better if only they had a job, a car, a change of circumstances.

But your prayers seem to have bounced back off the ceiling. There’s that nagging little voice that keeps on saying, “See, you’re all alone. God isn’t listening!”

Off balance

I confess that I have often felt this way, as much about others’ needs as about my own. And sure enough, before long I am seeing the negative side of just about everything. I get to wondering if God is picking on me, or someone else I’ve been praying for. I am forgetting the good things – losing spiritual perspective.

There was once a whole nation who forgot about the good things – Israel after the exodus from Egypt. They walked through the Red Sea with a wall of water on each side and didn’t even get their feet wet! They saw the Egyptians drown before their eyes, and “feared the Lord, and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant” (Exodus 14:31).

Not too long after this, they camped at Rephidim where Moses struck the rock, and water poured out for the people to drink. Definitely an event to remember!

Then the Amalekites attacked the camp, but God gave Israel the victory by having two men hold up Moses’ hands. As long as they did this, the Israelites prevailed. Then God gave an interesting order. He said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered, and make sure Joshua hears it, because I will completely erase the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14 emphasis mine).

Excellent advice. Write it down so you won’t forget it!

Within a few months, they seemed to have forgotten these really good things. “When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. ‘Come on,’ they said, ‘Make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what has happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’ (Exodus 32:1 NLT). They got impatient and rebellious. “Let’s make ourselves some other gods,” they decided. It seems not even Aaron stood up to say something like, “Hey guys, have you forgotten about walking through the sea, the manna in the desert, the water from the rock?”

The whole disastrous incident of the golden calf, God’s wrath and the plague that followed could have been avoided if they just remembered how God led them through difficulties since their departure from Egypt.

Many of the psalms were written by a man called Asaph. He was a seer (or prophet) and a choir leader during the reign of King David. In Psalm 77 he gives some excellent advice on how to regain spiritual balance. In the first few verses, he is in distress and cries out to God for help: “When I was in distress, I sought the Lord…and my soul refused to be comforted.”

“Will the Lord reject us forever…Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” (verses 7-9). Then he remembers the good things: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds…You are the God who performs miracles” (verses 11- 14).

Keep a record

In our Christian walk, we have all experienced God’s dramatic intervention in our lives. We can all tell amazing stories of being delivered from evil, of miraculous healings, of times when we know our prayers have been answered. These have often occurred when we were new in the faith, and have been great stabilisers. It does us good to remember these things when we seem to be plodding slowly and painfully through the spiritual valleys.

Some time ago I started a journal, and each time my prayers are answered – even in unspectacular ways – I make an entry describing those good things. When I read through the journal in “down times,” it is an amazing how much better I feel. Remembering the good things cheers me up, and puts my thinking straight again.

If it were not for that journal, I would probably forget all those times I was lifted up. I often remind myself, “If you want to remember something, write it down.”

And if you want to remember something good, write it down immediately. The rewards and encouragement can be much bigger than you think.

 

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