Remember?

Dr. Jerry N. Duncan Guest Columnist

May 09, 2008 01:13 pm

— If you are right in the middle of a significantly difficult time in your life, I am guessing it’s not the first one. We go through a lot of horrendously difficult episodes during our lifetime. How should we think about them when they do occur?
Isn’t it amazing how each new struggle seems to take on a life of its own? We forget about the one/ many we have experienced in the past and survived.
In my teen years I used to wonder about the value of reading the Old Testament. It was “old” and had a lot of interesting stories I remembered from Sunday School classes I was in as a young child. Interesting history, and some pretty adventurous stories, but how was it relavent to me now?
The historical accounts listed there give us repetitive evidences of how God always came through for His kids. Always. Sometimes it was decades or centuries later, but He always followed through on His commitments. That is where I learn that I can depend on Him now. I am confident that He hasn’t changed in His love or protection of me.
Therefore, we am not required to have a blind faith. We can base our faith for future help and provision on real events from the past. The older we become, the more of a history of “surviving/thriving” we develop for ourselves- if we pay attention to it.
“Remembering” happened long ago because people talked about their stories of God coming through for them or their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc. I wonder why we don’t do that as much anymore? Those history reviews used to provide hope and encouragement to the listeners. Oh yeah, now we have it in writing. We don’t have to re-tell the stories like we used to. Maybe we do.
Although we have story after story in writing of God always coming through for His kids, maybe it means more to us if we hear a real-life recounting of a recent event in someone’s life. Maybe it would be even more meaningful if we just took the time to remember our own most recent episode of rescue and survival. We have them, we just easily dismiss them as good fortune or good luck. But, they happen on a regular basis.
When we talk about a recent intervention by God on our behalf, we make that memory more deeply planted and more easily recovered from our memory banks. We also will see someone else’s life encouraged by our story.
When we make conversation with others, we oftentimes will have the opportunity to provide some direction to its content. Have you ever swapped stories with someone about internal strength or external miraculous provision that got you through a difficult situation or circumstance? These episodes of strength and rescue happen every day, but we have to develop the habit of attentiveness to notice them when they occur, and quickly share them with someone.
Will they “get it?” It doesn’t matter. You “got it.” And now, because it has been shared out loud, you will remember it when the next difficult circumstance comes your way.
Did I tell you they’re coming?