Don’t Forget to Remember

A little boy was given a hundred naira note by his grandmother as he was going to school.

When he got to school, he decided he was going to use the money to buy a can of soda during break time. He dipped his hand in his pocket and his money was gone. He was so sad, he went to sit outside his class and cried.

A parent who came to school to see the head teacher saw the young boy crying outside and asked him why he was crying.

“I really wanted to buy a soda today but I lost my hundred naira note” the boy said sobbing.

The parent dipped her hand in her bag and gave him a crisp hundred naira note. The boy took the note from her and then burst out in tears again.

The woman was surprised and asked why he was crying again seeing that she had just given him a hundred naira note.

The boy replied, “If only I hadn’t lost my hundred naira, I would have had two hundred naira now”.

How do you think the woman felt?

Exactly the way God felt with the children of Israel everytime they murmured against him right after He had given them a miracle.

Right after God parted the red sea for the children of Israel, they were faced with a situation where they needed water.

You would think that the Israelites would remember that God who helped them with the red sea would also help them with water. Instead they complained against God.

They chose to focus on a present discomfort than on a past mercy that God had shown them.

How did God feel?

“Oh, they caused Him (God) so much trouble in the desert! They made him so sad. Again and again they tested his patience. They really hurt the Holy One of Israel. They FORGOT about his power. They FORGOT the many times he saved them from the enemy.” Psalms 78:40-42
“Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand God’s wonderful acts; they FORGOT the many times he showed them his love, and they rebelled against the Almighty at the Red Sea. But he saved them, as he had promised, in order to show his great power. But they QUICKLY FORGOT what he had done and acted without waiting for his advice.”
Psalms 106:7‭-‬8‭, ‬13

When we forget the times God has shown us mercy and has been gracious to us and instead choose to complain and murmur about a present discomfort, we really hurt Him and make Him so sad.

We must never forget to remember the goodness and kindness of God even in the midst of trouble.

It pleases God greatly when we intentionally remember His past and present mercies especially in a time of distress.

Intentional gratitude to God changes your perspective and attitude. When you begin to call to remembrance the past acts of God’s goodness, it strengthens your faith and changes your focus from your mountain to your God who always moves mountains.

So be intentionally grateful. Stop focusing on things you should be forgetting. And start remembering the goodness of God that you have forgetten and taken for granted.

Make this a think-and-thank or testimony day. Think about what He has done for you no matter how long or near ago and Thank HIM FOR IT.

DO NOT FORGET TO REMEMBER that God is and has been good to you.