Don’t You Just Hate Being Forgetful?

A few days ago I wrote on my Facebook page the idea that sometimes we need to forget in order to move forward into the things God has prepared for us. The example I used was how my wife, Susan, had to forget her natural family in order to walk in the new relationship God had prepared for her. This idea of forgetting should cover many other things in our lives, but unfortunately we keep repeating them and get stuck in our past.

When we come to experience a relationship with God we need to forget our former way of living in order to experience all that God has prepared for us in this new Christian life. However, if we don’t forget our former habits we will keep repeating them and thus never really engage in the life that God has planned for us. How sad to think many will “FORFEIT” the life God has prepared all because they refused to forget the past.

In this article I want to take the idea of being “FORGETFUL” and consider how frustrating it is when we want to remember things, important things, and yet seem to let them slip from our grasp and, suffer because of it. Some things we shouldn’t purposely forget and yet so often do.

If it wasn’t for my computer calendar, that’s on my desktop computer, my iPad and my iPhone I would forget so much of what I should get done or at least attempt to do. I even overlook things that I want to tackle during each day and still miss some things in spite of making reminders in my calendar. From the people I am scheduled to meet with and being reminded to write my blog and devotionals, to Facebook devotions, I need reminders. Now I know some of you are laughing right now because you think it’s because I’m 70 years old, but I have forgotten things even before I owned such devices like iPads or iPhone and even before they were invented and I was young. Being forgetful I think is a human dilemma that happens to young and old.. 

This last week I intended to go shopping for socks of all things, and I waited until Sue got a 30% off coupon in the mail before shopping. I then put it in my calendar when the coupon was valid to use. The problem was even though I had slated time out to go to the store, which can be 20-30 minutes drive, I left the coupon on the counter! Not one time, which would have been frustrating enough, but I made the same mistake three times over three days! I would be driving to the store and just before arriving there I remembered I forgot the coupon again! I should have taped it to my forehead before leaving the house!

There are tons of decisions we make every day and our brain knows what to forget and what to remember, believe it or not. The problem comes down to a few key things. One: have we made the thing to remember a high priority or is it just another “THING” to do? Not setting things as priorities makes setting them up in the mind to be forgotten because the mind considers them as “Short Term” and non essential memories meant to be forgotten and removed. Many of us say things are important and yet our brain knows what our “HEART” believes as valuable and what is not. You can fool your mind but not your heart.

King David wrote some good advice about setting things in our minds as valuable enough not to forget concerning what God has already invested in our lives. He uses his mouth to remind his soul what to remember by reviewing tangible things God has already done for him. When we forget the past and the good things God has done in our lives God tends to withhold bringing new blessing because we seem to have short memories.     

Psalms 103:1-2

Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—

David knew he could forget good things unless he reminded himself to do them. Also consider this, that the psalms were meant to be sung out loud with others, meaning the Israelites were encouraged to speak to each other and themselves the truth they thought important and believed in, lest they forget them.

Two: David wrote about not forgetting God’s words and principles in scripture. He stated time and time again that God’s law was not only valuable in the good times but in the bad times as well. The average believer often fails to cultivate an appreciation of the principles in God’s word during prosperous times and thus when difficult times happen they will not rely on them, and can founder in their ultimate trust in God. Here is a clue to not forgetting valuable things. David talks about rising in the middle of the night to give thanks indicating God’s principles were grounded in his heart not just his head. 

Psalms 119:61-62

Though the wicked bind me with ropes,

I will not forget your law.

At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.

Moses taught the children of Israel to watch themselves with regards to being not being forgetful. He warned the people of God that forgetfulness kills our faith and trust of God’s ways in our daily lives. Moses used the words to “WATCH YOURSELF” closely because if our values are not regularly visited with remembering the things God has already done in our lives they fade into the background of our thinking and thus don’t guide our steps any longer.

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 

Finally, I want to look at the New Testament in which James, the half brother of Jesus, warned about thinking and saying one thing but doing another. It is so easy to quote scripture and yet not be guided by it. Don’t be fooled by what scripture you can quote or remember. I have met to many professing believers at one time hungered for God and his word but years later they only quote scripture and don’t live by them. Somehow we are able to find comfort in remembering bible stories without by the principles in them. James uses the idea of looking in a mirror and then forgetting what we saw to illustrate the whole idea of forgetfulness.

James 1:23-24

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 

I, for one, have read a lot of scripture over the years and many books on Christian principles, yet still find myself slipping at times, failing to live like those principles have taught me. Things like controlling my temper or being a generous person are things I have to give constant attention to lest after preaching to others I fail at living up to them myself.

Here are a few things I have learned to do to watch myself:

1) Start each day with thanksgiving for the simple blessings in life already received. Things like the color of the sky, the ability to smell coffee etc.

2) When I pray daily to let the Holy Spirit put a spotlight on the previous day’s behavior. How easy it can become to skip this and carry baggage.

3) Confess what the Holy Spirit shows me whether mistakes or intentional.

4) Ask for guidance in the following day to seek the kingdom of God and honor my Heavenly Father honestly.

Questions:

1) Do you find it easy to forget what God has told you to do in life? Maybe start writing these things down and then refer to them often in your time with God.

2) Have you forgotten, or let slip, principles of Christian living for the sake of convenience or comfort? Confess them daily until your heart changes and the Holy Spirit empowers you to overcome.

Hoping and trusting I won’t forget what’s important in life.

Pastor Dale