It is interesting to me how quickly we forget. Like a fish that forgets it was just feeding, so our own memory lapse could end in our own destruction. Perhaps we should consider ourselves all on the Amnesia spectrum somewhere between minor and sever, this forgetfulness is so epidemic. Why is forgetting such a problem? Forgetfulness is the root of all sorts of evil, malcontent, and otherwise degenerated thinking.

Depending on how one understands the story, it sure seems that Adam and Eve quickly forgot God’s words to them about the tree and perverted them into a memory that benefited their own desires, or so they deceived themselves. Consider further the Children of Israel in Egypt, they complain to God for 400 years about their slavery, and right after God responds and displays His power in ten miracles, a cloud and burning pillar of fire followed by a sea being parted, they almost immediately forget God can command nature and how horrible slavery was and begin believing that they will die for lack of God’s provision and wished they were back in slavery. Yikes!

Surely such dramatic stories of human forgetfulness and immediate selfish perversion of the facts of their life experiences are very rare and shouldn’t warrant our concerns, right? Like a man confronted by an angry mother bear, I fear, my friend, that the situation is much, much worse then it appears, as it seems there isn’t just one bear but another little one behind us, and thus we find ourselves in the most precarious and damning of ignorant positions.

One may spit on a fire only to find it doesn’t seem to matter, so we too are more like those pitiable Israelites then we would like to admit. If you are reading this and can make any sense of its stanzas you are probably old enough to remember a time that you forgot that God has provided for you since before your birth and before you could feed yourself. Sure, you were reliant upon your parents for care, and at a point even your own ability to provide for yourself, but do you really think that God had no control over any of that period? Did those who died in the womb perish apart from God’s control? If you doubt God’s provision for you every second of your life, then say so and I will help you understand in perhaps another blog, but for now lets just assume I am correct.

Little do we even think, that we are not in control of our lives like a child pretend driving from the back seat, his arm waving does little to steer the car. God has told us, and proven to us, that He is in control of every aspect and second of our lives, that even our hair doesn’t fall from our heads apart from his assent. Even worse, we may actually believe in our minds that this is true, yet our lives are rarely informed by such belief in a deep way. Consider this real world example and don’t forget the baby bear behind you.

Dear Christian have you ever praised God for what you believed was a miracle provision? Perhaps a surprise meal, or gift. Possibly an unexpected or undeserved promotion in life, where after which you immediately bowed your heart in praise towards God. Did you really think that God can only work in difficult situations and yet is powerless in the normal ones? Does it require less power to work miraculously than normally? I would assume this your, say, our actual belief because how quickly after fully acknowledging that God has provided for us do we assume that our next meal is only provided by our own hard work. Or perhaps God only provides for us in good ways but is entirely powerless to help in bad times, as it seems any Christian who goes through a trial starts to believe. Of all my Christian friends, I have often seen their doubt of God’s provision the highest when they were out of a job. Its almost as if they actually believe they earned and provided their own life nourishment and that without their working, God was powerless to provide for them further.

Foolish friend, be wary of backing up from the mother as she will actually view this as aggression and respond with more violence than if you had went in her direction. Perhaps you believe that God only has the power to provide for children but once they grow up they are on their own, or so it seems to me that at your current age, you may admit God cared for you while you were younger, but now you are on your own as at your age God has stopped caring for you! Certainly if God fed you through your mother’s breast or your fathers provision of food on the table while you were young, He can still provide for you when you are 60 and jobless, or do you think you wore out his storehouse of provision or love for you?

Without a doubt we quickly forget God, even after He directly speaks, miraculously acts, and providentially cares for us, but really is it that bad after all? Would you rather face the bear with crippling fear and falter backward or have the wherewithal to control your emotions, remember your training, and slowly back away from mother and child? When we forget and remember things differently then they are we open ourselves to a fear, unreasonable like a cheated thief of his booty. This fear causes us to act poorly, choose unwisely, and remember perversely.

Play out in your mind the too familiar story of joblessness, but this time remember in your story that God is in control, the same God who created you, led a nation single handedly out of Egypt and slavery, walked as a man on water, and rose from the dead with promises of your own resurrection as a co-heir of everything. The bear now seems like a mother cat whose kitten stands behind you purring now doesn’t she? Is it such a hard thing for the Creator to sustain a child in the womb as a jobless adult?

Don’t be forgetful, for misery follows her like an avalanche after a rogue skier. Rather remember and hold onto the truth you know, but keep trying to forget, you stupid, normal fellow. Stop and think of your current situation in light of your past experience and understanding of God’s care for all things. If you are alive right now, and I assume you are, then God is able to provide for you as He provided for you when you had no illusions of self-provision. If Jesus is alive right now, then God is able to guarantee your future resurrection and place with Him, so what more do you want to remember or should I say forget?