I have never been one to wear rings or anything on my hands because I find them to be a nuisance. They get on my nerves and I feel like they are in my way. When I married my wife Chloe, she would remind me that I have to wear my ring constantly or I will forget to put it on over time. When looking for a ring for myself, she joked that she would have "Put it back on" engraved inside of the ring. Sure enough, a few days after being married, I left for work without my ring because I took it off when I went to bed the night before. Soon after leaving, I got a text reminding me I forgot something. She told me, "You should not take this off. Keep it on or you will forget it." She reminds me often because she knows I am prone to forget. Because I allowed the distractions of the to-dos I had for the day to overcome me, I forgot to put on the gift freely given to me by my wife as a reminder of our relationship.
In my walk with Jesus, I am prone to forget His holiness, love for me, and free gift I have accepted, but He reminds me of it daily through circumstances, prayer, and His Word. Even when I am distracted by my "important" tasks, He remembers me and reminds me. We serve a God who fiercely loves us, despite our forgetfulness and disobedience. He is set apart in His perfection but remembered us when He went to the cross for our sins, knowing we would still forget Him.
A large part of our forgetfulness is doubt that God can do what He says He will do. In our worst trials and hardest days, we forget that the One who is holy and set apart in His perfections remembers us. Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us, "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." This is our reminder, that He does not just remember us, He is with us. He is in control, so we do not have to be. He knows the plans He has for you and they are greater than you could have ever imagined because He is at work within you! (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 3:20-21).
If we are honest, this is hard to believe when we are in the middle of trials. I think of Jonah's life and his deliberate disobedience to go to Nineveh because it was uncomfortable. As Jonah is in a big fish, the rock bottom moment of his life, he calls out to the Lord knowing He remembers him. Jonah 2:1-9 shows us his prayer saying:
From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:
"In my distress, I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
I said, 'I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.'
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
"When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, Lord,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
"Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God's love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, 'Salvation comes from the Lord.'"
How can we remember the things we do not know? We read His Word daily. We get invested in relationships with other believers in small groups - a large source of encouragement for me since they walk with me and challenge me to remember who God is when I'm forgetful. We also pray without ceasing, and, above all, remember to acknowledge Him daily with praises no matter our circumstances.
I have to remind myself, like Jonah does, of the promises of our King Jesus, whether I am in the pits of a trial, or am on the mountaintops. He knows me, loves me, and remembers me even when I forget Him and what He says.
