Our Forgetfulness In Suffering
Our Forgetfulness In Suffering
by Dan Neighbors
Are you a forgetful person? I’m not talking about losing your keys, the garage code, or needing to use “Find My Phone” regularly. I’m talking about forgetting about what is most important — things like time in the word, time in prayer, pursuing your relationship with God, and sharing it with your friends and family. Do you ever forget those things? I would venture a guess that we all forget those things at times. You know how I know that? We are human beings flawed by sin. We will forget, ignore, and neglect what’s most important sometimes. It’s who we are as people with a sin nature.
Let me ask you another question. When do you tend to forget those things the most? My guess is that we all tend to forget the most important things when something BIG & URGENT comes into our life — things like major financial problems, sickness, relationship problems, a major life decision, problems with the kids, or losing someone. These things tend to throw us off guard and take all of the attention of our heart and mind. It’s like standing in front of a mountain — all you can see is the mountain. In many of those situations where we are faced with a mountain, we start to worry, fear, or try to handle it on our own. During those moments, we forget about God — who He is, what He’s done, and how much we need Him. We neglect and forget our relationship with Him in the moment and end up trusting and relying on ourself. Without God, things often seem bigger than they are and our anxiousness grows.
As we will see in the Gospel Project this Sunday, we are like the Israelites in Exodus 16-17. When faced with lack of provisions in the wilderness after the Red Sea, Israel forgot what they had seen, they lost sight of God’s power, and they doubted and grumbled in the wilderness. In the midst of current suffering and difficulty, they forgot all that God had done to provide for them up to that point. Instead of relying and leaning on God, they were consumed with their circumstances.
Just like the Israelites, we have to recognize that "the Lord does not take us through the wilderness because He is cruel or because he has forsaken us — instead, He does so to sanctify us, to make us rely less on ourselves and more on Him. We must see that the mountain of suffering and difficulty that is capturing our attention is a blessing, not a curse. As we lean and rely on God to get us over the mountain, we will grow closer to Him and become more like Him each step of the way!
As you consider the thoughts above, here are a few resources to help you better worship God this week along with our Gospel Project teachings. As always, you can see our updated resources for each week on our Resource Page. We also sell (at cost) family resources to take home and accompany our studies through the gospel project like family devotionals and worship music. If you are interested in any of these, visit our Family Resource Center on Sunday in the EKIDZ Wing.
The Bread of Heaven [Gospel Project Kids Video]
What My Complaining Says About God [Ask Pastor John by Desiring God]
The Gracious Provision of God [David Platt]
How Does Christ Help Us In Our Suffering? [Christian Counseling & Education Foundation]
Let me ask you another question. When do you tend to forget those things the most? My guess is that we all tend to forget the most important things when something BIG & URGENT comes into our life — things like major financial problems, sickness, relationship problems, a major life decision, problems with the kids, or losing someone. These things tend to throw us off guard and take all of the attention of our heart and mind. It’s like standing in front of a mountain — all you can see is the mountain. In many of those situations where we are faced with a mountain, we start to worry, fear, or try to handle it on our own. During those moments, we forget about God — who He is, what He’s done, and how much we need Him. We neglect and forget our relationship with Him in the moment and end up trusting and relying on ourself. Without God, things often seem bigger than they are and our anxiousness grows.
As we will see in the Gospel Project this Sunday, we are like the Israelites in Exodus 16-17. When faced with lack of provisions in the wilderness after the Red Sea, Israel forgot what they had seen, they lost sight of God’s power, and they doubted and grumbled in the wilderness. In the midst of current suffering and difficulty, they forgot all that God had done to provide for them up to that point. Instead of relying and leaning on God, they were consumed with their circumstances.
Just like the Israelites, we have to recognize that "the Lord does not take us through the wilderness because He is cruel or because he has forsaken us — instead, He does so to sanctify us, to make us rely less on ourselves and more on Him. We must see that the mountain of suffering and difficulty that is capturing our attention is a blessing, not a curse. As we lean and rely on God to get us over the mountain, we will grow closer to Him and become more like Him each step of the way!
As you consider the thoughts above, here are a few resources to help you better worship God this week along with our Gospel Project teachings. As always, you can see our updated resources for each week on our Resource Page. We also sell (at cost) family resources to take home and accompany our studies through the gospel project like family devotionals and worship music. If you are interested in any of these, visit our Family Resource Center on Sunday in the EKIDZ Wing.
The Bread of Heaven [Gospel Project Kids Video]
What My Complaining Says About God [Ask Pastor John by Desiring God]
The Gracious Provision of God [David Platt]
How Does Christ Help Us In Our Suffering? [Christian Counseling & Education Foundation]
The Exodus Part 1 [The Bible Project]
Our Help [Sovereign Grace Kids Worship]
The Lord Is My Salvation [Shane & Shane Worship Song]
Recent
Archive
2022
No Comments