Jill Price has a memory problem. It’s not that she forgets details from her past—it’s that she can’t forget them.
Her amazing recall, verified by scientists, is a gift Jill would like to return. She’s tormented day after day by her memories—events vividly played back that are not always pleasant. Many times a day her mind will revisit moments that happened long ago. She can recall every detail of every day from age 14.
Now in her forties, Jill would like to learn to forget. But she can’t. “I . . . didn’t have the life I wanted,” she says, “but God had a different plan for me.”
When the people of Judah heard the words of Isaiah, they probably thought, Whoa! This isn’t the life we wanted. But God had a plan for them as well.
The prophet, writing of events that wouldn’t take place for decades, detailed the nation’s destruction and exile to Babylon. The reason? They had been a disobedient people, and God needed to discipline them in love.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. Isaiah prophesied that God would one day restore Judah and give her victory over the Babylonians. He told them that this deliverance would be even greater than when He rescued the Israelites from Egypt. “Forget all that—it is nothing compared to what I’m going to do” (Isaiah 43:18).
Not only did He tell the people to experience amnesia, He also promised to forget something Himself: “I . . . will blot out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again” (v.25).
Are you tormented by memories of sins you’ve committed? If you have received salvation in Jesus and repented of them (1 John 1:9), it’s time to end your total recall. God has forgiven you. Remember that.
More:
He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
Next:
What sins that you have repented of do you need to leave with Jesus? How does it comfort you to know that God does not dwell on our sins but forgives us?
pluvialis sitio on April 13, 2009 at 11:40 am
I am reminded of a line in a movie where an older soldier is addressing a younger soldier. “I met men like you in the war. They could do any terrible thing they were asked to do, as long as they did it running. But you can not run forever.”
This line has haunted me since I saw this movie a few years ago. I think that one of the reasons our society is so fast paced (ie. always running) is that we are trying to avoid the memories of all the terrible things we have done. Yes, we should to try to live our lives in such a way that we do not have to keep running. But we have all done things that we regret, and I am very grateful that in God we can find true forgivness, and in that forgivnes we can find real peace.
Be still and know that he is God.