Remember!

I have been going through an especially hard time these last few weeks. Everything around me seems to be going down the drain, and nothing I try seems to be working out. The harder I try to fix things, the more messed up they get. And so I sat there disappointed, miserable, and just about ready to quit, and asked God what needed to be done to overcome this. Where is my deliverance going to come from? I wailed. How will I receive my breakthrough? I begged. And in the awesome ways in which the Lord speaks to me, He said one thing to me "remember".

Remember?! Remember what? How am I going to overcome my present situation by remembering my past? Why would I even want to remember my past, it's not a pleasant one. But the Lord kept impressing upon me to "remember". So remember I did. I remembered my horrible past and the pit I had myself in, but I also remembered how the Lord dug me out and set my feet on solid ground. I remembered the various mistakes I've made and how I could have avoided them all, but I also remembered how the Lord forgave each and everyone one of my mistakes and washed me in His blood. I remembered how my back has been up against the wall more times than I'd like to count, but I also remembered how the Lord has delivered me and made a way out for me each and everyone one of those times.

Life is not a straight road; it's a winding road with twists and turns, and ups and downs. The only thing that remains constant in life is God. He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever (He. 13:8). And so when nothing seems to make sense and everything that should be right-side up is upside down remember the Lord. Keep your mind focused on what He has done for you and it will remind you of what He CAN and WILL do for you. Don't believe that remembering will bring you through? Let's see what scripture has to say.

When the children of Israel were finally settled into their promised land, and all the naysayers had died in the wilderness, they quickly turned to serving other gods (Jud 2:11-12). The reason they did this is because these new children of Israel did not know the wonderful works of the Lord. The old generation that had seen God part the Red Sea, pour manna from above, and make water spring forth from a rock had died. Even Joshua's generation that had seen God deliver the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites into the hand of the Israelites had died off. This new generation of Israelites did not know what the God of their fathers was capable of. They did not remember what God had done for them. Therefore, it was easy for them to turn to other gods and worship them because to them all gods were the same.

"And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord, the he did for Israel" (Jud 2:7). When Joshua and the elders died no one remembered the great works of the Lord. "And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after then, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel" (Jud 2:10).

So what did the Lord do so that this new generation would cease from worshipping false gods and return to Him? He stopped fighting their battles for them (Jud 2:21). Whenever this new generation of Israelites forgot God and started worshipping other gods, he delivered them into captivity. When they remembered God and put away their idols He delivered them. Over and over again throughout the book of Judges we see this cycle repeating itself. God's chosen people forgetting Him and getting beaten up, then remembering Him and getting delivered. As I said before, God is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. That means His ways and His methods do not change.

While God does not, today, deliver us into the hands of our enemies when we forget Him, He does test us to see whether we will remember Him even in times of great distress. The reason God kept delivering the children of Israel into the hands of their enemies when they would turn to other gods is because He wanted to "prove (test) Israel whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not" (Jud 2:22). God still tests His children today to see whether we will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as our fathers did keep it, or not.

So the next time you find yourself caught between a rock and a hard place "Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth" (1 Chr. 16:11-12). Remember how he brought you out of your own Egypt and delivered you from sin. Remember how he parted the Red Sea in your life and you walked on dry ground. Remember all that the Lord has brought you through and "seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth" (Ps. 105:4-5).

Cling to the hope that the same God who rescued you way back when can still rescue you today. Be like Jonah who said, "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple" (Jona. 2:7). Everyone "remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them" (Ec. 12:1). Like Moses admonished the children of Israel, let us "only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and they sons' sons" (De. 4:9).

Remembering the Lord's goodness will bring you out of whatever situation you're in because it's only by remembering His goodness that we can begin to praise Him. Like one evangelist said, "praise inspires God's creativity". When we praise God we move Him to do the impossible. So remember God's goodness today and praise your way right out of that rut!