Don’t Forget to Remember

***Audio Version Available***

Hard seasons can bring pressure, and along with that pressure we have the tendency to forget.  And it’s not a complete memory loss, but we forget in a way where what God has already done no longer feels real enough to trust Him again.

In Psalm 77, the writer is overwhelmed, restless, questioning, and then there’s a shift. “Then I remembered the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.” (Psalm 77:11).  Recently, I was reading a devotional from Upon Waking by Jackie Hill Perry, and it stirred something in me I couldn’t ignore.  It brought me back to the truth: the issue isn’t that God hasn’t been faithful, it’s that we’ve stopped rehearsing His faithfulness. And that’s the shift we see in Psalm 77.  Everything didn’t change. The situation didn’t get better, but he chose to rehearse the faithfulness of God.

The children of Israel also struggled with this. In Exodus 14, God parts the Red Sea, making a way where there was none and destroys Pharaoh’s army behind them. And yet, in the wilderness, they forgot. What should have been an 11-day journey turned into 40 years. This didn’t happen because God was incapable, but because they lost sight of His track record. They trusted  what they felt over what they’d seen.

And if we’re being honest, we have the tendency to do the same thing. Peter walked closely with Jesus. He witnessed Jairus’ daughter being raised from the dead. He was one of the three disciples Jesus trusted to bring to the Mount of Transfiguration. He boldly declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). And still he denied Jesus three times – not because he didn’t know Him, but because in a moment of pressure, fear was louder than memory.

In 1 Samuel 12:24, Samuel reminds the people, “Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you.” Remembrance isn’t living in the past. It’s stabilizing your faith in the present. It’s saying, “If He did it before, that truth still stands now.”

And we hold onto this anchor that even when we don’t understand the present, Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.” There is a difference between hurt and harm. Hurt is real. Hurt is the weight of disappointment, confusion, delay, or even grief. But harm is what happens when we allow that hurt to distort our view of God’s character. Hurt says, “This is hard.” Harm says, “God is no longer good.” So even when life feels uncertain and the wilderness feels longer than expected, God’s intentions toward you have never changed.

And here lies your invitation:  Don’t forget. 

Don’t forget the prayers He answered. Don’t forget the doors He opened. Don’t forget the peace He gave you when it didn’t make sense. Don’t forget the version of you He brought out of something you thought would break you.

God has a track record. And your current moment, no matter how confusing, does not erase His consistency.

So when your mind starts spiraling, emotions feel louder than your faith, and the wilderness feels longer than it should, go back. Rehearse it. Write it down. Speak it out loud if you have to. “Then I remembered…” (Psalm 77:11) and let that remembrance carry you until your feelings catch up with what is already true. And what’s true is that He has been faithful. He is faithful. And He will be faithful again