Deja Who?
“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”- Psalm 103:2
Last week I had the same event happen to me twice in one day. I am certain that many have had a similar experience, yet with my one-day double take, I was trying to figure out what was going on and if there was any meaning behind it. My Deja Vu moment had to do with an item I thought I had misplaced/lost. First, I reached in my pocket for car keys, but they were not with me. I immediately worried about where I had left them, only to remember that my car was at the mechanic. Then a few hours later on my way to a meeting I stopped in my tracks because I wasn’t sure where my cell phone was. After doing a quick check for holes in my pockets, I headed back to my office, certain that I had left the phone on my desk. Again, I was embarrassed to discover the phone was always in my left hand, crammed between a bible and notebook I was carrying. What made these two occurrences interesting is that the items were always with me. I had knowledge of them, availability to them, and ultimately possession of them.
That day’s “lost and found” moment had me realizing how easily I forget that God is Dwelling with me and fail to remember His gracious Dealings with me. There are times where it seems we are all alone. That God has left the building, is not answering our call, or has canceled our date. There are times we struggle with what I call a sense of spiritual loneliness. However, there is nothing further from the truth. Our God has not moved, changed, or abandoned us. He never did, has not, and will not! God is WITH US, even when we feel alone. He is SPEAKING to us, even when we hear nothing. And our God is WORKING ALL THINGS FOR GOOD, even when the evidence seems otherwise. Even in times we forget His location or feel He is not present take heart that God has never left your side! Consider the following promises we have in the Bible:
Joshua 1:5- “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
John 14:18- “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
James 4:8- “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”
I think that one of the reasons we experience the PRESENT MOMENT feeling that God is M.I.A. (Missing in Action) is because we have FAITH MEMORY LOSS. We simply fail to remember the One who has never failed us. One of the things we are called to do as God’s people is to remember all that He has performed and promised. Many times in the Bible we see that either God or the leader (who God placed over the people), set up some sort of symbol, practice, or event as a remembering and retelling of His goodness: God’s covenant with Noah sealed by a rainbow (Genesis 9:13-16); the institution of the Passover meal every year (Exodus 12:14-28); Joshua creating a stone altar in the promise land (Joshua 24:25-27); and the very thing Jesus established, Communion, that is practiced regularly by our church and millions of believers each month. Paul details the importance of our coming to the Lord’s Table in 1 Corinthians 11:24-26, “And when Jesus had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Maybe today you’re enduring the repeat cycle experience of loss and the sinking feeling that God is not with you. If you feel anxious, abandoned, and absent of all hope, never forget what the Lord has done in your life, what He has promised to you, and that you are always within His loving sight and grasp. You are precious to Him. He will walk with you on today’s lonely road! He will answer the cry of your heart! He will open doors for your immediate need! He will show up for you in beautiful ways! Let this Psalm of David (17:8), be your Present Location today, “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.”