We are a forgetful people. Even the most brilliant of us forget things, like a seminary professor we know who has a photographic memory and yet forgot something very important. One weekend, he drove from Dallas to Houston for a speaking engagement. At the conclusion of his engagement he took a cab to the airport, purchased a one-way ticket to Dallas, and flew home. Upon arrival, he called his wife and asked if she would come get him at the DFW airport. She replied, “I’m happy to, but what about your car in Houston?”
Even a photographic memory is no guarantee against forgetfulness. The psalmist commands us to forget none of God’s benefits, much like a parent reminding our kids, Don’t forget! If we forget physical things we can see and touch like a car, how can we possibly remember the often invisible works God does? We can’t. It’s an impossibility for us mortals with faulty memories. What is the solution?
The easiest answer is to make lists of all the good things God has done, all the prayers He has answered, and all the ways He has provided for us individually. My problem is I’ve started making lists hundreds of times in my life only to forget to continue adding to them! Even so, all my partial lists add up, reminding me when I read them of God’s goodness to me.
Another way to aid our remembrance is to build a physical marker, like the Israelites did in the Old Testament. Once they made a pile of large rocks (see Joshua 4), when they crossed the Jordan River, so when their children asked about the stones they would tell the story of what God did.
I have a friend who has done this in her backyard. She had one of her sons build a cross. They leaned it against a tree and piled rocks at its base as a reminder of something God had done for them as a family.
The point is we must find ways, even if we forget along the way like I do, to remember God’s benefits. To recall His goodness is to grow our faith. Forgetfulness is a faith killer.
In this month of Thanksgiving, when we naturally think about being grateful, start a list as a family of all the ways you are seeing God work each day. Ask your kids to help you remember to keep adding to your list!
In 1992 I was reading through the Old Testament and was touched by the thought that every time something good happened, they gave thanks by building an altar. I mentioned this to my husband and suggested we build an altar. We live next to a creek, and our property has more rocks than dirt. The idea grew, and that Thanksgiving before we sat down to dinner, each person in our greater family went searching for a rock. We gathered in the designated spot and took turns recounting God’s blessings of the past year and placing our rock on the pile. It’s the best tradition of the year for us!
The pile grew and grew until my husband suggested we build a permanent altar. That year I took my clipboard as we all walked around the yard and picked our favorite boulder. I wrote down the location of each one so I wouldn’t forget. Over the next ten years our permanent altar with water flowing over became the focal point of our entire place. On Thanksgiving, we now point to our personal boulder and share the year’s biggest blessings. There are extra rocks for visitors to claim. I love the constant reminder of God’s faithfulness.
I find the best way to remember Gods’ blessings to me, is to witness to someone asking questions then recounting the times He worked in my life! Surprises them and makes me grateful and genuine in my witness.
Thank you! This was helpful.
Good Morning ,My name is Sarice Richardson and what an awesome scripture. This was an confirmation for me today November 4th-2017. This was my prayer to the Lord that he would help me remember his word. So,I can speak the word of God in any situation. He was also sharing for me to remind someone of how he had brought them from such a long way. Thank you so much. God gets all the Glory here. Blessings.