Remembering

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

In my previous article titled, To Be Quite Honest[1], I talked about how difficult it is for me to push through the problems and negativities I face to rest in His love and simply abide. As I noted, much of this is due to the fact that I am a “glass half empty” type of person. I naturally gravitate toward the negative, just like Winnie the Pooh’s Eeyore. It’s something I’ve been aware of for quite some time and as you can imagine, it has been frustrating because often before I think about my reaction to something, I’m already emotionally reacting to it with frustration and/or anxiety.

I ended my last blog article with the following paragraph: “I may be taking some time off from writing, but for those who are subscribers to this blog, you’ll get a notification next time I write something.”

I was half expecting to be away from the computer for days or even a week or two, but evidently the Lord had other plans. In fact, the other night I was walking our two dogs – Buster and Scooby – and I was thinking about this problem and continued to pray while I walked with the boys. The Lord opened my eyes.

Before I get into that, let me refer to some Scripture here. Let’s first look at a situation in which John the Baptist was in jail as the time had come for the end of his earthly life. While in prison, I’m sure he thought about all that he had seen with his cousin, Jesus (John was remembering), and how God had led him (John) to be a light in darkness. During that process, it seems John also experienced doubts (or at least questions), about Jesus; who He was and what it all meant.

In Luke 7:18-23, we see that John sent his disciples to Jesus essentially asking Him if He was the One (don’t you love how the Matrix ripped that concept off for Neo?). Jesus’ response to the disciples is very interesting.

22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Please notice that Jesus did not provide a simple “Yes, that’s who I am.” Jesus reminded John (and John’s disciples), of all the things He had done in the course of His ministry to that point. Jesus had healed the blind, the crippled, the lepers, the deaf and even raised the dead. Beyond this, He had preached the Gospel to the poor (in spirit?). Jesus’ point was simple. He was telling John to remember, to remind himself of those things.

Psalm 77:11 says, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Deuteronomy 8:2 states, “And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.”

The Israelites’ had such short attention spans that almost as soon as God performed a miracle for them, they forgot all about it! Out of sight, out of mind. They conveniently forgot all that God had done for them every step of the way.

In Luke 2:19 we learn, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” This is just at the birth of Jesus when the shepherds and wise men came to the stable where Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and literally worshiped Him. These and other events like this were markers for Mary, situations and events that she remembered and could go back to to remind herself of how God had worked in her life with life-changing events. The fact that Mary treasured these things is a good example for us. Because she treasured them, she was also able to ponder them (recall them and think about them), as often as she wished.

So, here is the point. What I realized is that I needed to create a Remember Journal listing all the times where God has proven Himself faithful to me, normally in response to my prayers. I began it that very night after returning home from walking the dogs. I started recalling events in my life in which God had clearly answered specific prayers by providing clear and tangible answers.

I will continue to add to it daily as I think of more things the Lord has been faithful about. I expect to have a small book with many pages soon. It was becoming very clear that God loves me because He responds to my prayers.

These responses to prayer serve as reminders of God working in my life. As we remember the times God has faithfully responded to our prayers, the reality of this builds our faith so that we grow in grace.

I can worry about many things. What’s the future like next week? When will the economic crash occur? Will there be an election in November? Will the Left cheat big time even if we see them cheating to determine the outcome of the upcoming election? Will the USA be destroyed in 2024? 2025? Will there be another “pandemic” with lockdowns, masking and vaccine mandates? Will I lose my job after the economy crashes? Will my wife lose hers? Will we lose our home? Will they try to take my chickens and my dogs? Will unruly mobs of people find their way to the country here to take what they can take? And so it goes. One bad thought easily leads to another and then I am overwhelmed with negativity, doubt and anxiety. It can never end.

However, as I looked at that list of specific responses to prayers by God Himself, I was left with one major thought: God has always responded to me (one of His children), and He will continue to respond regardless of the situations that arise in the future! Fascinating and powerful. Remembering and even dwelling on the times God has responded to our prayers does something that nothing else really does. It personalizes my relationship with God. We all have unique relationships with God. He does not work the same way for each person because each person has unique needs. When we start remembering and cataloging the way in which God has responded to our prayers, it takes on a very unique frame of reference.

I previously said I read His Word daily. I memorize Scripture and repeat it to myself often. I pray a good deal and constantly ruminate on Him and His character. Those things are very good but nothing personalizes my relationship to God more than remembering the specific instances where God answered my prayers. It is the same for you as well because each of us have our own individual walks with God. Yet, because your prayer needs may be far different from mine, the answers to our prayers become entirely unique based on that particular person. While we can all sing the same songs of praise driving in the car or during worship at church, the fact that my prayers are unique to me and my life and God’s personal answers to those prayers are what points to our individual and special connection with God through our salvation. While we are certainly all part of the Bride of Christ (The Church), we do not all become all the same because of it. My personality is what identifies me. My individual relationship with God in Christ is how He knows me.

What I’m actually describing to everyone is the process by which we grow in grace! This is how it is done! Recall that in my last article, I noted how not many today seem to focus in on “how to trust God, how to grow in His grace, or how to rest in His love and simply abide.” They really don’t do that. Why? Because that is too mundane and really doesn’t “sell.” What does sell? Fear. In fact, fear can be addictive. So the more a person fears situations, the more they are willing to tune into people who will tell them in fearful terms all that is happening and where it will lead. I’m still waiting for the “fulfillment” of the many things that these people point to as the near future though.

Let me state clearly that I do not necessarily think those folks are ginning up the fear purposefully to gain new followers and keep them hooked through fear. I don’t think that’s the case, though it could be for some. What I’m saying is that many to most people can become hooked on the latest fearmongering situation and that often leads to anxiety over situations that people cannot control. It’s kind of like the old television Batman, Green Hornet, or some other serial cliffhanger. People would be desperate to find out what happened so they’d tune in the following week.

If I focus on the Left cheating as the November election approaches (they’re already cheating by simply appointing/anointing Harris as the official Democrat candidate even though she had a “favorable” rating of less than 2% when she ran for POTUS), then I will worry about the results. Instead I should be giving it to the Lord and trusting that He is certainly powerful enough to change things (if that is His will), or leave them as they end up being.

If I focus on WWIII that’s being ginned up by many, then I’ll worry about the results of nuclear fallout and massive death. But what does my worrying do for me except cause anxiety and tension?

I have found that the more I focus on the corruption, evil and the terrible events occurring in the USA and the world, I tend to think that I have to solve those problems. This, as I mentioned, gets my brain going and I end up using a good amount of energy trying to “figure” things out, when in point of fact, I don’t need to figure anything out at all. It’s all God. He will lead me. He will help me make decisions. He will provide for me, but He really needs me to get to the end of myself in thinking that I need to actually come up with solutions to problems. I can’t do a thing when it comes to the upcoming presidential election or WWIII. I have zero control. God does have control over it and His purposes will prevail, period.

The absolute ridiculous part of this is though I know what the Bible says about the end times and how terrible it will be, it’s not as if I can do anything to change that, can I? Instead, I need to focus on the fact that as God has responded to my requests in the past, He will continue responding to my future requests.

God has always provided. Always. The point is very clear: I should not waste my time trying to figure things out. Instead, to counter that I should simply remind myself of the many specific times that God clearly responded to my prayers and by doing so, I am growing in grace and strengthening my faith at the same time.

Throughout the Book of Isaiah (which my wife and I are reading now), there are two things that stand out to me. First, through Isaiah God tells the people of Israel what will unfold and how it will affect them. These things appear to be set in stone. Second, in spite of the fact that God set things in stone, He always noticed the person who prayed to Him about situations affecting them and often provided exclusions for the faithful.

A case in point is King Hezekiah, who was going to be attacked by Sennacherib of Assyria. In Isaiah 36, it’s interesting to hear the words of Sennacherib’s chief guy, Rabshakeh. This guy is so arrogantly vapid he doesn’t even know the difference between pagan altars that Hezekiah removed (high places), and the altar dedicated to Yahweh in Jerusalem! Rabshakeh boasts that no one including any god can stop Sennacherib. Sounds like a triple dog dare ya.

So what does King Hezekiah do? He is obviously concerned and nervous but instead of simply trying to solve the problem with his own thinking, he instead turns to God in prayer.

16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 18 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands—wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 20 Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord, You alone.” (Isaiah 37:16-20 NKJV)

Hezekiah understood, based on past experiences with God and answered prayer, that God could certainly handle this situation. Hezekiah did not know exactly what God planned to do at that time, but God sent Isaiah to the king to assure him that his prayer had been heard and God would deal with it (Isaiah 37:21-35).

So, we have Sennacherib and his armies camped outside Jerusalem waiting to conquer. It must have been a frightening sight to see from the top of the wall surrounding Jerusalem. Imagine many people within those walls all thinking, “We are dead meat!”

But Hezekiah prayed. God responded through Isaiah and what happened then?

36 Then the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh.

God destroyed 185,000 troops. No one saw that coming; not Sennacherib, not his troops, not the people of Jerusalem and not Hezekiah. Hezekiah only knew that God would do something. He did something truly astounding. Nothing is too hard for God and the more we remember His answers to our prayers, the greater our faith will become.

Satan would like us to focus on the negative and rack our brains to find a way out. God wants us to focus on Him and His ability to save us in His way. The coming election may be fraudulent. The results may end up being worse for our country. With millions of illegal aliens in this country, they will be used for something nefarious. But what does that really matter if God is truly in charge and is willing and ready to respond to our requests? He does not expect me to try to solve those problems.

Start a Remember Journal, where you list all the times that God has responded specifically to your prayers. Keep it handy. Add to it constantly. Refer to it often. This is in addition to reading and memorizing His Word and talking with Him throughout each day.

As we focus on remembering God’s faithfulness, I believe our faith in Him will grow, and though we will continue to see the evil and corruption increase, we will be able to look beyond it to gain more of an appreciation for the fact that God is above all things and because of that, controls them. He will respond to us in the future as He has responded in the past. He will see us through. He will provide when all seems hopeless.

I hope this has impacted you as much as it is impacting me. Take the time to catalog the times God has faithfully responded to your prayers. Treasure them in your heart and think of them often. I firmly believe God wants us to do this and in doing so, we will rise above circumstances and situations.

Sorry for the length of this but I didn’t want to break it up into a series of blog articles. May the Lord be your strength today and every day! As you work to remind yourself of His continued faithfulness, I believe your awareness of His faithfulness will grow from day to day. But we must put the effort in and that effort is in writing down, remembering and treasuring the many times and the ways God has answered your prayers.

[1] https://studygrowknowblog.com/2024/07/24/to-be-quite-honest/

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective