Remembrance
Numbers 21:4–5
"They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
I see myself there too, growing impatient and complaining. But God has always listened as long as I share my frustrations with Him and direct such thoughts captive in prayer. He is patient and loving, God is faithful even if we are faithless (II Tim 2:13), "for He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psa 103:14)." There are times I look back to "the good old days" and it is always tempting to think life was a lot simpler then, but no, the memories oversimplify the events. Often in challenging times, a sense of longing arises for when it was "easier". But when I shift my focus on remembering the challenges then and especially what has been achieved through those, I wouldn't want to go back instead I get excited by the thought of moving forward and by what yet can be done and accomplished, because in those moments I saw once more how God's faithfulness and goodness, despite my failures and faithlessness, have undeniably carried me through. Remembrance is a double-edged sword but we can marshall our thoughts of the past what is more is that we can pray to the Holy Spirit to help us recapture the lessons, the joyful memories that inspire, and what is true, pure, noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Phi 4:8). At the present, as we forget the dust of the past and leave behind troubled thoughts, we keep moving forward straining towards what's ahead (Phi 3:13), knowing that at the other end God is our father running to meet us. So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him (Luke 15:20)."
"They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
I see myself there too, growing impatient and complaining. But God has always listened as long as I share my frustrations with Him and direct such thoughts captive in prayer. He is patient and loving, God is faithful even if we are faithless (II Tim 2:13), "for He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psa 103:14)." There are times I look back to "the good old days" and it is always tempting to think life was a lot simpler then, but no, the memories oversimplify the events. Often in challenging times, a sense of longing arises for when it was "easier". But when I shift my focus on remembering the challenges then and especially what has been achieved through those, I wouldn't want to go back instead I get excited by the thought of moving forward and by what yet can be done and accomplished, because in those moments I saw once more how God's faithfulness and goodness, despite my failures and faithlessness, have undeniably carried me through. Remembrance is a double-edged sword but we can marshall our thoughts of the past what is more is that we can pray to the Holy Spirit to help us recapture the lessons, the joyful memories that inspire, and what is true, pure, noble, right, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Phi 4:8). At the present, as we forget the dust of the past and leave behind troubled thoughts, we keep moving forward straining towards what's ahead (Phi 3:13), knowing that at the other end God is our father running to meet us. So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him (Luke 15:20)."
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