Have you ever been in trouble? I have. Have you ever been in despair? I have. Have you gotten through your troubles or despair? I have. How did it happen? Was it just time or were you rescued? Both of these have occurred for me. Does it help you to remember those times? Does remembering bring you hope? It does me. Were our troubles part of God’s larger plan for us?
The Holy Bible is full of passages that tells me to remember. I have wondered why. I believe it is primarily to give me an understanding of the greatness of God which elicits hope. “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,” Isaiah 46:9 (ESV) According to this I am to remember because it gives glory to God.
It is easy for me to forget. I go about my daily business and I forget. Maybe it is because I am getting older or perhaps it is that I am getting complacent. Maybe it is just within my nature to forget things. I am glad though that I have a helper to remind me of the important things in life. Jesus gave us that helper according to John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (ESV)
One of the most convicting passages to me about the importance of remembering is Deuteronomy 8:11-20. “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.” (ESV) I know that this is a warning to Israel but I believe tit also applies to me today. How often I live my life thinking that I am responsible for everything I do. I am where I am today because of what I have done. To me this passage shows me that I am part of a larger story. I am part of God’s story.
Another important passage to me is not about me remembering but it is about God remembering. “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25 (ESV) When I read this passage, I see that because I believe in the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross that God blots out my sin, not for my sake but for His sake. He remembers them no more. God by His infinite grace forgets my sins to the point of not even remembering them. When I stand before Him, He sees me as sinless. You to can stand before God sinless by accepting Jesus as you Savior and Lord. There is no greater hope than this, that I can stand before God sinless.
So, join me in remembering the past and acknowledging that your past is part of a greater plan of God. Knowing when we remember God He is glorified. He will give us hope. God is the only One who can give you true hope. He can make all things right. As you remember receive hope for yourself and give hope to others by living in God’s faithfulness. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because of that we ought to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in choosing Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google
