Short Term Memory
Recently my high school son has been stumping me. In the last several months he has asked for help on his math homework. In high school, I did well in math classes and even took AP Calculus. Looking at his assignment, it quickly became apparent that I remember next to nothing about advanced math. I didn't have the slightest clue how to help him. I'm certain I learned the operations he was assigned to do but the passage of time has not been kind to me. I don't remember. Perhaps some mental exercise would bring it to mind but as of this moment I have no recollection. I was only able to retain my math information for the short term.
If we aren't diligent we can do this very same thing in our walk with God. If you have been a Christian for any length of time you have probably forgotten more of God's working in your life than you even realize. I was struck with the obvious foolishness of this when I was reading through Exodus recently. In Exodus 14, God rescues his people from Pharaoh's army and certain death. One moment the people were trapped with no hope of escape and the next they were free! So they did what anyone would do--they celebrated. They praised God. They sang: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea" (Exodus 14:21).
Fresh on the heels of victory, Israel sets out into the wilderness. For three days they traveled without finding any water to drink. Finally, they found some water at a place called Marah but the water was bitter and they couldn't drink it. The people began to complain and grumbled at Moses: "What shall we drink?" Three days after a supernatural rescue, God's people began to despair about their physical needs.
Their memory of God's great deliverance was short-lived. They didn't take it to heart. As soon as they faced a fresh crisis they lost hope. They cried out in fear and frustration. As it turns out, God accommodates to the weakness of the people and shows Moses a means to make the water of Marah drinkable. That's pretty remarkable in itself but if you keep reading it gets far better and far more encouraging. Exodus 11:27 says this: "Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees and they encamped there by the water." God knew what He was doing. God did not lead His people into the wilderness only to abandon them. He had provision all laid out for them. All the people had to do was remember His power and trust in His grace. Somehow the Israelites only filed this in their short term memory.
Our memory of God's power and grace tends to be just as temporary. We forget God's mercies. We forget all the ways God has helped us, whether large or small. We remember these things only for a short time. That explains why our faith is so weak. We forget what God has done. These days I'm trying to learn how to consistently remember the mercy of God in my life. I'm trying to write down more of the mercies of God and talk about them more. Yes, there are a lot of challenges ahead but God is going before us and He will sustain you!