Remember What? A Good Memory Always Stands Out

As the craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic continues, our lives have truly changed. While many things have gone away, at least for a time, there are many things that have come about that really aren’t so bad. 

My wife and I were actually having this conversation just a little while ago. She had to return to work, in-person, a few weeks back, and I have to be around the church more often as well. We were both talking about how we will miss the rhythm of daily life working from home. 

We woke up a little bit later. We fixed and ate breakfast together every day. Our two dogs were out of the crates pretty much all the time. We didn’t have to be anywhere at a particular time. Life was good.

What we will miss most is our daily lunches together while watching a favorite movie or television show on DVD. One memory in particular is eating Steak-umms while watching early episodes of Laverne & Shirley every day for a week.

These really are tremendous memories that I will cherish long after we are back to our normal lives – or whatever our new normal looks like. A very good memory in the midst of many frustrating, bad ones.

Our prayer life is not much different. We tend to focus on the negative and forget the good stuff. Now, I am not talking about miraculous healings where a relative comes back from the grip of death.

I mean the everyday things we pray for that we often take for granted. A co-worker at my last church told us once in a staff meeting that she had been convicted to be more appreciative of God answering “small” prayers.

Once her two children started driving themselves to school, she prayed every day that they would make it there and back safely.

And guess what, they did. She began to thank God for those “small answered prayers”.

In our lives, we tend to focus on the bad. We remember when something does not go our way.

We remember when that one thing went wrong. Or when that one prayer wasn’t answered (at least the way we wanted it to be).

But we forget the good. We forget new friends and new family members. We forget the promotion. We forget the kind word from someone unexpected. 

We forget the heartfelt thank you note from a student in your youth group. Or the comment from your boss “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

We forget the simple moment a husband gets to spend with his wife while working from home during the COVID pandemic.

In Psalm 77:11, we find, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.”

Here the psalmist, reminds the Israelites once again of God’s mighty deeds from their past, including the Exodus from Egypt. Over and over again, the Israelites are reminded of what God has done for them.

As Christians, we should always remember that God hears every prayer and He answers them according to His will and His purpose – not ours. And the truth is that if even He doesn’t do anything else for us again – He has ALREADY done enough.

He gave us Jesus Christ as the way of salvation, forgiveness of sin, and the path to eternal life in heaven.

Let us remember His good deeds. Let us remember His answers to our prayers. Let us bask in His goodness. Let us cherish the good moments He has blessed us with. Nothing is as bad as it seems.

Anyway, I was just thinking…