REMEMBER

REMEMBER

The Israelites grew up knowing they were supposed to remember and recite the great miracles God did for their ancestors and families. They were supposed to tell their children stories to keep God’s love and majesty in their hearts and minds and pass it on to future generations.

 

Recalling the goodness of God was to be an antidote for depression, rebellion, and fearful thinking so that when enemies would come at them, they would have the correct mental weapons to fight. And they would know that God would continue caring for them in hard times.

 

But the Israelites didn’t do what God wanted. Psalm 78: 10-11 tells us: “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.”

After Jesus came to earth, God “called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As He also says in Hosea: ‘I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved’” (Rom. 9:24-25).

Even though God no longer requires us to be under the Mosaic law, Paul tells us in Romans 15:4: “Whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

The Old Testament edicts are for our learning. I’ve found that remembering what God has done for us in the past works the same way God intended it to work in Old Testament times: to give us the mental and emotional weapons we need when life’s circumstances challenge us.

Reading Psalm 78 this week, I saw that God’s people were far from steadfast. Instead, they kept flipping back and forth from following God’s will.

 

When many died, “they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer” (Ps. 78:34-35). But their memory was short-lived!

 

“Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant” (vv. 36-37).

 

“But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them” (v. 38).

“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel” (vv. 40-41).

“They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy” (v. 42).

 

After reading this, I figured it would be a good time for me to reflect on my own life to see a few miraculous things the Lord did to rescue me in the past. I don’t want to become insensitive to His power and blessing in my current life, like the Israelites in Psalm 78!

 

I remember when I was about 19, I felt like no one loved me. I had even failed at trying to commit suicide. I was alone and despondent and didn’t know how to improve things. My best offer came from a “friend,” and we would go to LA to become prostitutes. God rescued me just in time when my dad’s San Francisco office suddenly closed, and my parents asked me if I wanted to go with them to Chicago. I went. But things didn’t get much better.

 

I met a guy who I really liked and we went out a few times. Then he said he wanted me to meet him late one night at the pool parking lot where I worked as a lifeguard. I was ready to go, but something didn’t feel right, so I didn’t go. The next day when I showed up at the pool, the head lifeguard told me the guy showed up at about 11 p.m. to do a drug deal. He had a handgun and was really angry that I didn’t come. He had all his stuff in the back of the car and took off cross country. My lifeguard boss said the guy was planning to take me with him! God saved me from being abducted by that guy!

Jane tells me I kept my angels very busy back then, and she’s right.

 

When I think back to those years between 18 and 22, I can tell you so many stories of how the Lord saved me from numerous awful situations. I felt like I was acting like those Israelites in Psalm 78, always carrying my Bible around but absolutely void of any Godly wisdom!

 

Finally, God rescued me for good. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist says: “He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” That’s what happened to me. Jesus Christ baptized me with his holy spirit and fire. The fire burned out my old life and gave me power and wisdom, and I never went back.

 

“I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Ps. 40:2).

 

That’s my story in a nutshell, and remembering it gives me great calm and uplifting. If you ever get discouraged or sad, just take a look at what God’s already done for you. 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise.” What He’s done for you before, He can do it again and way more!  

 

Love, Carolyn  PS: My new book, BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE, just came out on Amazon! In color! www.amazon.com/dp/B0BV4GC859?psc=1&smid=A1Y53T3O3Q25L8&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp