Forgetting God

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love! -Psalm 36:5–7

Let’s say you’re going through a challenging time—you pray constantly, and God delivers you and answers your prayer. What do you do after that?

Many jump for joy at the answer to their prayer and promise God they’ll never forget what he has done. But then, after a short while, they do forget what he has done! It’s not an immediate amnesia of his goodness, but a gradual substitution with other pursuits.

A dear friend of mine was once again thrown into a desperate situation. There was always someone trying to stab him in the back on their way up the corporate ladder. As soon as this happened, he would get down on his knees and pray fervently, “Jesus, please help me.”

But when God answered his prayers, the narrative changed. In reality, his business acumen and negotiating skills were what God used. Then, pretty soon, God was out of the picture altogether.

Once, I pointed out to him that it was God who had rescued him. He patted me on the shoulder and responded, “John, you have to say that, you’re a pastor. But really, I did it. No offense.”

Thankfully, because God’s favor is toward us, he takes no offense. We experience his unending generosity and grace. James tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17).

God’s love spoils us. We often take his kindness for granted until we find ourselves in an impossible situation. Even though we may forget him and forget to share the good news of his rescuing power,  he will never forget or abandon us.

As we learn these truths about God, it becomes clearer that we’re safe and secure in him only because of his character, not ours. We’ll get through this life, and we’ll end up in his eternal kingdom because (and only because) he stayed faithful to us, not because we stayed true to him. And to the extent that we did hang in there on many occasions, it’s only because he gave us the power to do so.

Let’s change the narrative and use every opportunity to thank God and joyfully share our rescues with others, pointing them to our Savior Jesus. Above all, may we humbly place all that we are and have at his feet to honor him as he chooses to bless us.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
-Psalm 107:8-9