Digging Deeper – Remember Who You Were

I remember hearing someone say, “Goldfish only have a 3-second memory.” The statement encourages the hearer to move on past failures and forget about them. But the big problem is that the statement is not true. Thousands of studies show that goldfish actually have excellent memories. They can learn tasks and repeat them weeks and months later, something that I often find difficult. I try to remember what I changed my password to last week, but a goldfish would probably remember.

God wants his people to remember things. When he brings his people out of Egypt and begins to give them the commandments to live by, he keeps sprinkling throughout the commands the reminder that they were once in bondage, that they were enslaved, that they were foreigners. God even institutes a celebration to commemorate the release from Egypt (Passover, Leviticus 23). But God doesn’t tell them to remember only the release from bondage; he wants them to remember that he sustained them even in difficult circumstances.

Remembering is a part of thanksgiving. God wants us to remember not just the blessings but the hardships. The times when we question if God is even there. When I look back on those times with hindsight, I can see God at work. But if you are in that kind of place right now, I pray that God will begin to show you, in your memories, how he has brought you through other hardships, to remind you that he is with you in this one.

On the same note, if we don’t take time to remember who we are and what God has done, we can fall back into bad habits and ungratefulness. George Santayana warned, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” When we look back with thanksgiving on what God has brought us through, we are more likely to lean on him in the present. We are more likely to trust him with our future.

Remembering the hardships we endured cultivates empathy and mercy for others. Looking back on those bad things gives us insight into who we are. I love the C. S. Lewis quote: “You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much, are what make us perfect.” I don’t like the blows of the chisel when they are happening, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look back and appreciate what they’ve brought to my life.

Take a moment. Take a couple of breaths and think back. Thank God for the undeserved blessings he has bestowed on you. Give thanks to God for the times that he brought you through hardship. Let your past with God change your attitude in the present and your hope for the future.