Do You Remember?

Photo Credit: Nocturnal Flame Designs

So often we forget where we came from, and how we were brought out of a dark past. We feel the weight of the present and complain about what is happening around us, completely consumed by the desires of our humanity. At night we find ourselves lying awake for hours, tossing and turning or “doom-scrolling” on electronics to pass the time, anxious and heavy-hearted and often with our minds racing with current events. How did we get here? We spend so much time debating the semantics of how to do this and how to do that, comparing the lives and choices of people with what we believe to be truth, pushing ourselves to a breaking point of questioning all that we know.

As we read Psalm 77, we are reminded of the time of Exodus and the sequence of events that took place throughout the book of Exodus in the Old Testament. We sometimes feel as if we are in the time of captivity, as we are stuck in the motions of expectations and responsibility while trusting God will take care of us through the tradition of religion and faith. People are suffering and dying around us, getting weaker by the day as the years are passing us by. Generations before us have been in this same place, and we push through while crying out to God that we need change. At some point then God saves us from the situation, provides a way out and He brings us into freedom just as He did with the Israelites. They were reminded of how powerful and wonderful God is through the terrifying and amazing experience of coming through that dark time. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 77:10-12, “And I said, ‘This is my anguish; but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds.” Right there in the psalm it is written to remember the works of the Lord.

You would think that after such an amazing experience, while also having the history of what God had already done generations before them, the people would be brought back to a place of worship and remembrance, of gratitude and reverence. But as they moved forward in their newly found freedom, they questioned God and started to complain about the way He took care of them. Some even yearned for the days of captivity as if it was better than the present. God had promised them a future, and a home, and freedom- and where was it? As they doubted the power and authority of God, their provisions were removed and they were stuck in a state of suffering once again. The people then found themselves wandering the wilderness for forty years, rather than walking in freedom immediately. You can read further into what happens later in the book of Joshua, but when their time of suffering came to an end God ultimately blessed them once again and fulfilled His promise. We can reflect back on Psalm 77:14 where it says, “You are the God of wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people” and remember that God has come through before, and He will do it again!

Maybe you are past the point of captivity, and God has brought you out of darkness. You have been set free, and you have opened your heart to His Word and a life that is free in Him. Rejoice in this! Remember the time He brought you out, and praise His name! Meditate on these things, and share the things He has done in your life. When we get to a place of forgetting this, we start to question the faithfulness and truth of God. When we stop sharing the stories of how He came to our rescue, and we do not acknowledge and proclaim the mightiness of His work- when we do not give Him the honor of our worship and the priority of our hearts then we start to complain, and we miss the blessings and promises He has in store for us.

Maybe you are already in the wilderness because you have forgotten what God is capable of. He has not just saved people from the past, just in stories from centuries ago in the old history of the Bible. It is not just in the time of Jesus with the disciples, or the time right after in the early church of the apostles. No, He has saved people in modern day, in this century, in this year, and even today. God has made a change in the lives of so many, but we forget sometimes that we aren’t always the ones who will live out the promise of the future. Sometimes it is for our children or the future generations. It is so important that we remember where we came from, speak of the GOOD THINGS the Lord has done- move FORWARD in the freedom He has given us- and pass on this life and freedom to the next generation. Stop hanging out in the familiar, and get away from captivity, march out of the wilderness and take hold of the new life God has given you. Pass on the things to be remembered, the testimonies of what God has done, and look forward in remembrance with a new hope of what He will do.

–Adrianne Michele, Author
Nocturnal Flame Ministries