I forgot again!

I have a variety of methods I employ to avoid forgetting something I need at the store, or a task which must be accomplished by a certain deadline.  The problem comes when I forget the "tool" I was employing in the pursuit of whatever it was I was going after (like when you leave the grocery list sitting on the counter on your way to the grocery store).  I carry a "smart phone" - something I should consistently employ to do all this gathering of information and reminders because I am seldom separated from the thing!  Good old fashioned pen and paper sometimes get the best of me and I find I have a note here, one there, and maybe even a "sticky note" or two pinned to the far edge of my computer screen (electronic, but effective).  What am I attempting to do with all these tools?  Remember!  Why is it we have the hardest time remembering some things and at other times we just cannot put a memory out of our minds to beat the band?

Do not forget to rejoice, for hope is always just around the corner. Hold up through the hard times that are coming, and devote yourselves to prayer.  (Romans 12:12 VOICE)

To forget is kind of like we obliterate the thought from our minds - maybe not forever, but at least for the moment. Some of us call it "drawing a blank" or maybe even "having a wee brain lapse".  Most of the time, we don't purposefully choose to forget, but rather let the things we once considered so important to gradually just slip from our immediate memory. They are probably still there if we think hard enough, but it takes a little "jogging" to get the entirety of the memory to the surface again.  If the majority of our issue with remembering things that are supposed to be in the forefront of our minds comes because we don't realize they are slipping away to the recesses of our memories, then maybe it is time to ask for a watchman over our memory!  I think this is why God actually sent the Holy Spirit - to become our "spiritual memory jogger" when we let those things he declares over our lives to slip into the recesses of our minds!

I guess it comes as no surprise to you that I can remember some pretty useless stuff on occasion, while the stuff I really need to hold onto has to be secured in "memory jogging software", like my password vault on my electronic device! Maybe it is because I have to remember somewhere around 25 individual passwords for some software, or to gain access to a website!  Maybe it is that they have to be so complex I cannot possibly make it easy on myself in creating them! These are all important in the course of my work, personal finances, and everyday life - but they aren't as important as some of the stuff I don't "secure" in any type of memory "vault"!  When God gives me a nugget of truth, bringing something into a place of clarity for me in my walk with him, why is it I don't secure that nugget away in some "vault" for continual reminders when I need it?  I think it may just be I hold this false belief that I will remember it when I need it!

Thank goodness God sent the Holy Spirit to help us all remember the important stuff he teaches us!  One of the easiest things to forget is this whole concept of rejoicing - in the good times, but also when the tough struggles come.  It just plain escapes us sometimes - we don't rejoice often enough!  Why rejoice?  Because hope is just around the corner!  We rejoice, not to get hope, but to recall hope to the front of our memory once again!  At the point we said "yes" to Jesus - a new hope was placed in our hearts and minds.  In time, the worries of life caught up with us and that hope seemed to slip to the recesses of our minds.  What rejoicing does is bring that hope to the forefront again.  What does bringing hope to the forefront of our minds accomplish?  It often means we begin to recall it isn't by our own strength or ability we accomplish this "walking out" of a holy life - but the strength and accomplished work of Christ on our behalf.  It might just mean we stop trying to muster up the right attitude, or create some sense of peace with the circumstances, and just reside IN peace instead.

Rejoicing brings hope into focus once again. Hope isn't focused in our own ability, but in HIS.  Just sayin!

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