Claire Lewis penned our devotional post for this week. Be sure to head over to the contributor’s page to learn more about her.
I am so quick to forget.
We’ve all been there – you enter a room and immediately forget what you came in for. Maybe you’ve forgotten more important things- a bill that is due, someone’s birthday, a meeting.
While all these things have their own repercussions, there is one area of forgetfulness that affects my life in ways that no other can.
I forget God. More specifically, I forget His character.
Maybe you’ve struggled in this way, too. Maybe you find yourself wishing away a season of life that you once begged God for, or you’re feeling anxious over the seemingly unkind acts that God has allowed in your life as of late.
Whatever the reason may be, when we are not regularly rehearsing the true character of God in our minds, we are quick to forget them, and the effects are detrimental. Temptation wins. Anxiety, fear, and depression rises. Gratitude flees. The list could go on.
Throughout the Bible, we see countless instances of others struggling with forgetfulness. The disciples as they panicked on the boat in the storm. David as he let his gaze linger while on his roof. Jonah as he attempted to hide from God. The Israelites as they cried to return to Egypt.
Moses even used his last words to rehearse God’s character to the Israelites so that when they were filled, they would not forget their God:
“And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not . . . Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”
// Deuteronomy 6:10, 12
If we aren’t regularly rehearsing the character of God, the lens in which we view our life, our circumstances, and ourselves begins to morph. This morphed lens distorts the truths of every aspect of our life, and instead of recognizing this, we are quick to blame God or others before ever placing blame on ourselves.
In Psalm 77, we see David demonstrate beautifully how to turn our mind to the truths of God’s character when we have forgotten:
I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?”
// Psalm 77: 12-13
May we, like David, learn to instead turn our gaze back to the only One who can satisfy our wandering hearts. May we regularly rehearse His character in our minds by searching for Him throughout scripture and meditating on the truths we find. May we be so overwhelmed by Him that when we are filled we do not forget.
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