Remember, it seems like such a simple word, do this in remembrance of me, why was God always asking his people to remember. Remember my covenant, remember my provision, remember my words. But Why? Why do I need to remember? Why does he ask me to remember his word, his promises, and his continual faithfulness? Because he knew we as humans are a forgetful people. We forget the good when the bad comes close. We forget promises when circumstances threaten to break us and we forget who asked us to remember when we can’t see past our own fingertips. Jennie Allen said it perfectly in her Chase Study when she said, “he wants to assure us our faith is real through our memories of the times when it was undoubtedly real and through the promises of his word”.
I am asked to remember because when I remember it’s hard to doubt. When I remember I must praise him and when I remember my heart is set in the right place.
We have all had those times, times when we could almost reach out and grab God. Life isn’t always like that though; each day isn’t a church camp high that we can ride for a few days. Real life gets in the way. I have a hard time finding holiness in the laundry and God’s voice when I am singing the chorus of “Skin a ma rink” for the 17th time. Sure, there are moments when I am rocking my girl and she looks up at me and smiles that I feel Gods favor. Or times when I am having a challenging conversation with my husband that I can see why God picked this man for me, but when I remember I don’t need magical moments each day, I can look back and see his hand so clearly.
I went out to dinner with a friend this week and we both talked about how God rescued us from the pit we were in. We shared stories and at the end we looked at our lives and said “wow, look what God has done in us.” If our lives had continued how we were living we would not have been sitting at that table. I shudder to think if God had not reached into my mess of a life and grabbed me right out of it. He did though and he still does. I still sin, I still get myself into messes, but at the end of the day he’s still the same God he was 6 years ago reaching into my mess and placing me in his holiness.
When I remember that I see so much that I might have missed. I see the friendships he provided, the family he knew I needed, and a real man to show me the others never really loved me. I see that on the hard days, the ones filled with doubt and dread, the God is always faithful. Then I see that I don’t need him to prove himself because even though I don’t deserve it he has proven himself, again and again.
Anna Etheriedge - I just finished Popular in a little less than 4hours! I could not put it down -except to dry my eyes. Vulnerable, raw, so very honest, I ached with each emotion and loved the final message! You said to my children more than I could have put into words. I immediately dropped it into my 19 year old’s hands. Bless you Tindell for your willingness to share what so desperately needs to be shared to a hurting generation wounded by lies. God is faithful! There is hope! – Anna, mom of 6
Tindell Baldwin - Thank you so much Anna, that is a great reminder of why I am so honest and raw. I hope your daughter sees Jesus in it. Blessings to you and your family!