Spiritual Amnesia

How many of us can admit we sometimes allow fear to block our memory of the times God has come through for us in the past?  I know I have more times than I can count. It’s like we experience Spiritual Amnesia. Although God has come through countless times in the past, when looking our situation square on, we only see the trial and start the worry that this time we won’t make it through. We instantly go into “what if” panic mode instead of looking to Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, to do what He does best.

Psalms 46: 1 says, “God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge. You’re a proven help in times of trouble – more than enough and always available whenever I need you.”

David’s mindset wasn’t one of doubt but of confidence.  If anyone had a testament of God’s faithful rescuing, it would be David. From defending his flock from lions and bears to defeating Goliath to evading King Saul’s wrath, God was not only with David, but He assisted in him having victory in those circumstances.

Throughout my childhood, our family shared testimonies of how God came through for us; as reminders of His goodness and faithfulness.  Like when my parents were somewhat newly married and living on a very small income, where every dollar was spoken for. One day while my dad was selling flowers on a street corner, he thought about those luxury items he would have loved to afford. Being the true Dutchman that he is on his mind that day was potatoes. Yup, potatoes, that was the luxury item he was craving. It just goes to show their financial position at the time. While at that moment, he made a simple request “Hey God, if You could somehow have someone give me a tip today, I’d sure love to be able to use it to purchase some potatoes.” Wouldn’t you know it, a delivery truck drove by, and I kid you not, a bag of potatoes fell out of the truck, landing at his feet. Not just any bag, a 50 lb bag of “Grade A” potatoes!

Another time, my mom made a grocery list in faith that we would have the money to purchase it all. Shortly after, there was a knock at their door. My mom opened it to find a lady from their church holding some bags of food saying, “I just felt God telling me that you could use these groceries” As my mom emptied the contents of the bags onto the counter, we crossed off the items on her list, every single thing!

When I was in grade 12 and wondering what I should do with my life after high school, it was a toss between going to university to be a social worker or going to Bible college for a mission’s program called Omega. For most of my Grade 12 year, I would use my commute each day as a prayer time. On one particular morning, I got a little sterner with God stating, “Lord, I really need to know what I should do as applications have to be sent in, and housing arranged etc.” I must have looked down for a split second cause when I looked up; there was a semi-truck in my lane coming straight at me. At the last minute, it swerved, returning to its lane. As it passed by me, low and behold, the entire side of the truck’s trailer read in large, red letters the word OMEGA. God made it incredibly difficult for me to miss his message!

Now, these are just three examples of the hundreds of times in my life where God clearly came through above and beyond the need that we had. Yet why is it that most likely tomorrow, when I face a new trial or situation, my first instinct will be to fret and worry?

 I can’t imagine living in a world where God ignored my cry for help or where he just one day says, “Nope, sorry Rebecca, not this time. You’re on your own. You’ve used up My generosity, and I can no longer be of assistance to you. What you need of Me is too hard.”  If I know for certain that this would never happen, then why do I treat God as if it could be. Why do we say things like, “Ok Lord, I know You helped me out in the past, but I’m not so sure that this time You will?”  God wants to cure our spiritual amnesia and remind us that we can trust in Him always to be there, to come through when we need Him, no matter how big or small our needs may be.  May we live by David’s example, unwavering in our confidence that we will be taken care of by our Heavenly Father as we have in the past and will again every time to come in the future.

Father God, we repent of all the times when our reaction is to worry and fret at the first glimpse of hardship.  May we be quick to turn our eyes to You, our proven help in times of trouble. Thank you that You remain consistent and reliable through all the phases in our lives. Thank you that no matter if our need is small and simple like a bag of potatoes or hard and scary like the mending of a relationship, You long to be our source of help.