Just a Reminder....

     A week ago, I received a postcard in the mail reminding me that I had an upcoming dental checkup.  Since I had completely forgotten about this, I was happy to get this helpful note.  I put dates in my smart phone to remind me as well, but there are times when I forget where I laid my phone!  In truth, we all need reminders of appointments as well as other obligations that we have.  We are a forgetful people.

Peninsula State Park Door County, Wisconsin

     Throughout the book of Joshua, God tells the people to leave memorials so that they will remember His deliverance of them into the Promised land.  We read about one such memorial in Joshua 4:19-24:  "19Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth of the first month and camped at Gilgal on the eastern edge of Jericho. 20Those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. 21He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their
fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ 22then you shall inform your children, saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23“For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”  God did not want His people to forget what He had done so that they would worship and fear Him all their days.
     In the Psalms, we find many occasions where the mighty deeds of God are remembered.  Psalm 105:5-7 reads: " 5Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, 6you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth."  As we continue to read the Psalm there is a call to remember the bondage in Egypt and how the Lord delivered His people.  Recounting the blessings that the Lord gives helps us to remember His presence in our daily lives.  He never forgets His people, and He is always at work on our behalf even when we cannot see it.
     Perhaps the greatest reminders to us of His tremendous grace in our lives is found in the sacraments of baptism and communion.  Both are symbols of the covenant which God has made with us through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ.  Every time we witness a baptism or partake of the Lord's Supper, we are reminded of the new life we have in Him and His return.  He will come again to receive His bride, and this will be a day of great rejoicing.  Until then, we take part in remembering His precious sacrifice for us.
     When we are discouraged, sick, depressed, tired or otherwise overwhelmed, this is the time to begin enumerating the many ways in which God has touched our lives and blessed us.  He inhabits the praises of His people.  In my own life, I find that singing songs of praise to the Lord help to get my mind off the difficulties and focused back on God.  Likewise, I turn to God in prayer and begin praising Him for who He is.  Again, I feel such a relief when I remember Him who is the helper of my soul.
     This is what David did when He wrote the Psalms and sang to the Lord.  Indeed, he had many troubles, but he learned to look to God.  Some wonderful Psalms of comfort are Psalm 23, Psalm 91 and Psalm 139.  There are others, but these focus on the Lord's care for His own.
     Lets face it, we all need reminders on a daily basis for the things we need to do, but even more importantly, we need reminders each day of all that God has done for us that we cannot do for ourselves.  Look in God's Word, seek fellowship with other believers and pray without ceasing recalling His miracles in your life.  As we do these things, we will rise above this world and the trials that can weigh us down.  Selah!