“Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God …” (Deuteronomy 8:11, NASB)
We can easily joke about forgetfulness when we are not at a point in life where it presents a problem. How often I have uttered, “Oh it’s my Alzheimer’s!”, when I have forgotten to do something. But a change occurs in the way we regard the disease when someone we love and respect is diagnosed.
Alzheimer’s Disease. Dementia. Senility. Forgetfulness. All words to describe a loss of memory. A loss of ability to know and do things. A loss of awareness. It is both hard and sad to deal with.
Several years ago, it was so hard to watch as a loved one forgot that we were her children, her loved ones. Yet she hugged and embraced a total stranger as if they were her loved one. In that forgetfulness, things get flipped, they get turned around, and often do not make any sense at all.
God has felt the pain of watching His own deal with forgetfulness. He has dealt with watching those He loves, His very own, also suffering from the disease of forgetfulness.
In looking in the concordance of my Bible, there are five times where we are told, “Do not forget the Lord your God……”.
It seems His chosen people ”“ the Israelites, and us as well, have a problem with forgetfulness. This is most serious, as it is God whom we are forgetting.
We forget Who He is. We forget what He has done. We forget what He can do. We forget He is able. We forget.
The antonym of forget is remember.
God is so good to not only tell us “do not forget” but to tell us what we need to “remember”. Join me at Woman to Woman Ministries HERE as we look at a few of these remembrances.
Photo by Rob Pumphrey on Unsplash
Today I am joining … Inspire Me Monday and Remember Me Monday .
Amen. Remember Him and all He has done and continues to do for us.
Oh, Joanne, I watched my mother go through so much due to her ‘forgetfulness,’ the dementia…whatever we want to call it. She never got to the part of not recognizing us kids for which I am so grateful. But she got mightily confused. I have a sister-in-law currently who is forgetting so much yet she has places verse upon verse into her heart and mind and God brings the reassurance of Him to her often. The other day, we were on the phone and she was upset that she could not feel God in her presence. As we talked about that, verses began to pop up and we both were so comforted by the faithfulness of God, even when we ‘forget.’ Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Linda, it was hard to watch my mother-in-law and father-in-law as their memory diminished. One of my fondest memories of my FIL was sitting with him one day as he went through one page at a time of his phone book. He shared memories of each person with me. Only in hindsight did I realize he was truly trying to be sure of remembering them himself. Praying for your sister-in-law – may the Lord bring her assurance of Himself each day as she recalls the truths of God’s Word she has implanted in her mind. {{hugs}}
Amen Joanne, such beautiful words today. Blessings.
Thank you, Paula.
I call dementia the silent thief – it steals memories – and it steals the ability to make joint new memories – leaving just one-sided memories – unconditional love memories. Have you read The Year of The Great Grandmother by L’Engle? It helped me vintage the memories, the history and hold them close during the very long good-bye.