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
