If you’ve ever loved someone with dementia you know that my next statement is true: their minds are like a lamp with a frayed electrical cord. Flip the switch and the light might flicker on once, twice, ten times, or even a thousand times. But then, there is a short circuit. You flip the switch and there is only darkness as their memories grow dim or go dark completely.
It’s unthinkable that we could forget our spouse of fifty years, the babies we rocked, the grandchildren who first called us “Nana” or “Papa.” Except, sometimes we do. It is possible for the silhouettes of our very favorite faces to become fuzzy, for the memories of our very best days to drift out of reach.
God has always been good. He has always been faithful. We may meditate on His character once, ten times, or even a thousand, and see the light of truth flicker on in our hearts. But then, there is a short circuit. We simply forget who God truly is. Mustard-seed faith becomes too hard to muster up, and we can’t recall the memories of His kindness toward us. Our brokenness, it seems, has frayed our heartstrings. Spiritually speaking, all of God’s children are prone to forget what He has done. Through His Word, God shows us that remembrance isn’t passive. It’s not a fleeting memory or a fanciful notion. Remembrance is a verb, an action, a choice that allows us to hold tightly to the truth of who God is.
When God’s children crossed the Jordan into the land they’d long longed for, God commanded them to remember (Joshua 4). He ordered men to place stones on their shoulders. But these stones were not mere pebbles. They were stones of remembrance that required each man to stoop, to pick up, to haul their memories of what God could do.
When Jesus gathered with His disciples in the upper room on the eve of His crucifixion, He implemented a similar object lesson, an act to do “in remembrance” of Him (Luke 22:19). It’s hard to fathom that Christ’s friends could forget the sermons they’d heard delivered straight from the Son of God. Unthinkable that they’d ever deny that He was who He said He was. But they could. They did. In His mercy, Jesus was showing them (and through them, showing us), how to remember the things that matter most.
When the psalmist faced a dark night of the soul and struggled to see the light of hope, he defaulted to rhythms of remembrance: I remember. I meditate. I reflect (Psalm 143:4–5). As he reached for His memories of God’s deeds from the past, the light came back on.
We are people of faith with frayed cords. Until Christ’s return, we will always have moments of forgetfulness. But God has given us the tool we need to close the circuit again. We need only to “remember the LORD’s works” (Psalm 77:11).
DANIELLE, coming to the table late…
But God..
Dear sister, he hears the prayers of this late comer.
Praying your cancer has not spread, BUT THAT IT HAS SHRUNK.. In Jesus name..
Amen.
Keeping you in my prayers DANIELLE and hoping your faith and hope in Jesus, will keep your strength up, and remind you of who He is..The father, your strength, your comforter, your healer.. only He can..
But God..❤
@Sarah D.
My email : [email protected]
Would love to meet and talk with you.
You have grown so much in your faith walk and
have blessed me so much by your transparency
You have your life ahead of you and I am
looking forward to semi-retirement.
May God bless you greatly my dear younger sister in Christ
@Sarah D.
My email : [email protected]
Would love to meet and talk with you.
You have grown so much in your faith walk and
have blessed me so much by your transparency
You have your life ahead of you and I am
looking forward to semi-retirement.
May God bless you greatly my dear younger sister in Christ
DANIELLE ZUNIGA Praying for you beloved sister in Christ.
May God bless you and heal you.
The file cabinet in my brain can be overwhelmed at times with the data input. I weigh out the energy it will take to keep that memory of fact or fiction and, often times, choose to let something go for the sake of the whole. There is more valuable information to be stored and I must make room…..I have wandered in my faith. I’m not proud of it. I was raised in a Christ loving home. I should have never forgotten who and where God is…but I did. The light of faith in me never faded completely but it was being suffocated and starved by other things I thought were important. Suffering hit in a tidal wave. Again and again I was thrashed by things that were out of my control but yet I didn’t cling to the one safety net I had. I just kept moving from crisis to crisis trying to find air to breathe in between. Cancer, death, betrayal, poverty, pride, failure….More and more of it until I felt numb. That sort of numbness is isolating, dark and lonely. But one day, I was listening to a podcast while driving and the speaker said something….I’m not even sure I remember exactly what it was, but it struck me like an arrow. Gods words flew into me and I felt it…the weight of the truth. The truth carries a weight no lie can counterfeit and God is the only truth. I started to thaw and feel again. Slowly I am crawling back…on my knees…my head bent…seeking out more of that truth. The more I hear it, the more I open myself to God and listen to him, the more I remember what it feels like to be loved and feel at peace. Now, suffering is a gift. It’s a place I can find him. But so can I in times of peace.
Thank you Pam, I am eternally grateful for your prayers!
Thank you Mari V, I am so grafteuk for your prayers
Thank you, I ask for your prayers that my cancer has not spread to my sternum & back. I need my prayer warriors more than ever! I have my CT scans on Monday. Thank you, thank you for keeping me in your prayers.