Some memory lapses are funny, but most are distressing. How frustrating when the name of a familiar person drops right out of my brain. How annoying when I cannot remember if I told a story twice (especially without my granddaughter here to remind me).
On the other hand, as I go through the day, sometimes something pops into my head that I need to do (and hadn’t written it on my to-do list), usually right at the time I need to do it. Where did that come from?
The question I have about remembering and forgetting is this: In old age, will I forget everything God taught me and only remember my old sinful way of life?
The Bible has lots to say about forgetting, even when it is very important not to. Psalm 78:9-11 says that, “The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.”
They were armed and given all they needed to conquer their enemies, but they disobeyed God and forgot all that He had done for them. Will I do that? My enemies are not physical so much as the world and its pull to lure me away from loyalty to the Lord, my fleshy old nature and its desire to please itself and not my Savior, and the devil whose lies would divert me from the truth of God. Can these enemies overcome an aging soul and cause me to turn away from God?
Paul wrote to Timothy about continuing to follow the Lord. He said in 2 Timothy 2:14-15, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ.”
This and other passages say that reading the Bible is important. Its truths counter Satan’s lies, the sinful nature’s selfishness, and the world’s magnetism. The Scriptures remind me of what God has done so I will not forget. But what if I can no longer read? I have a dear friend with macular degeneration. She isn’t able to read even large print Bibles. Or what if I lost my hearing? Even the Bible on tape would be useless to me.
My husband would never allow our children to “what if” and would likely scold me for using these words. If he didn’t say, “You worry too much,” he would be thinking it. And he is right. Instead of fussing about the future, I need to focus on the amazing power of God.
For example, recently I had been feeling deep conviction over a bad attitude that I’ve had for a long time. I confessed this was sin and asked God to remove it from my life. A few days later, I felt as if I were a different person. It was odd, and I strongly sensed something was missing. It actually took me the whole day to realize that God had answered my prayer. Even more amazing is that I cannot remember what that bad attitude even felt like.
The bottom line for me this morning is that God is in control of what I remember and what I forget. He reminded me of a sinful thing. He reminded me it needed to be brought to Him. He took care of it and put it “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12), and then made me forget it too.
Spiritual dementia? My ‘senior moments’ are annoying, but this kind of forgetting is an amazing blessing. Thanks to Him, I’m also reminded that He is in charge of saving me—all of me—including what I need to remember as well as what I need to forget.
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