BECAUSE YOU WOULD FORGET
"This Too Shall Pass"
Gerry White

Because you would forget your misery and remember it as waters that have passed away

Job 11:16

1. What makes you forget God?

they did not destroy the people as the Lord had told them. [35] Instead, they intermarried with other nations. They learned to do what other nations did, [36] and they worshiped their idols, which became a trap for them. [37] They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. [38] They shed innocent blood, the blood of their own sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. The land became polluted with blood.

[39] They became filthy because of what they did. They behaved like prostitutes.

Psalm 106:34-39 (GW)

O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, 'At last we are free from God? We won't have anything to do with him anymore!'

Jeremiah 2:31 (NLT)

The world enticements: power, convenience, fame, sex, pleasure

2. Forgetting what you have leads to complaining.

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat! [5] We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. [6] But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!"

[7] The manna was like coriander seed and looked like resin. [8] The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. [9] When the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.

Numbers 11:4-9 (NIV)

It's not what you have lost, but what you have left that counts!

3. Satan makes us forget what God gives us. (Temptation)

The snake was more clever than all the wild animals the Lord God had made. He asked the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must never eat the fruit of any tree in the garden'?"

[2] The woman answered the snake, "We're allowed to eat the fruit from any tree in the garden [3] except the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, 'You must never eat it or touch it. If you do, you will die!' "

[4] "You certainly won't die!" the snake told the woman. [5] "God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened. You'll be like God, knowing good and evil."

[6] The woman saw that the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Genesis 3:1-6 (GW)

What does this teach me about God

1. God never forgets your troubles. (God's time table is always right)

Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites still groaned beneath their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their pleas for deliverance rose up to God. [24] God heard their cries and remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. [25] He looked down on the Israelites and felt deep concern for their welfare.

Exodus 2:23-25 (NLT)

When President Lincoln was forced to endure the hatred of millions because of his steadfast loyalty to purpose and principles, when he was bitterly reviled and condemned for refusing to consider an unjust peace, he reminded himself that "this too would pass in time…and that with God’s help he would weather the storm.

When nothing else helps, it's comforting to know that no pain or grief can last forever, that whatever your burden may be "this, too, shall pass."

2. God's forgiveness means he forgets sin.

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:17 (KJV)

Three Things Not To Forget

1. Don't forget the causes of your sins

Numbers 20:3-5
After 37 years in the desert, the Israelites forgot that their wanderings were a result of their parents' and their own sin. They could not accept the fact that they brought their problems upon themselves, so they blamed Moses for their condition. Often your troubles result from your own disobedience or lack of faith. You cannot blame God for your sins. Until you face this reality, you will have little peace and no spiritual growth.

2. Don't forget God is on your side.

1 Samuel 13:6
When you forget who is on your side or see only your own resources, you tend to panic at the sight of the opposition. The Israelites became terrified and hid when they saw the mighty Philistine army. They forgot that God was on their side and that he couldn’t be defeated. As you face problems and temptations, focus your attention on God and his resources, trusting him to help you (Romans 8:31-37).

The human soul, beaten down, overwhelmed, faced by complete failure and ruin, can still rise up against unbearable odds and triumph.

Testimonial: Mr. Newton, Secretary of War in President Wilson's cabinet said after World War 1 he visited the Federal hospitals where the worst casualties of the American Army were hospitalized.

One of the very worst was a man with both legs gone, one arm gone, both eyes gone, his face terribly mutilated, who was wheeled around the grounds of the hospital in a perambulator by a nurse, but who was radiant and full of spirit. Nobody expected him to live! He did live and married his nurse!

3. Don't let God's blessings cause you to forget him

Nehemiah 9:35
Sometimes the very blessings God has showered on us make us forget him (Neh. 9:28). We are often tempted to rely on wealth for security rather than on God. As you see what happened to the Israelites, look at your own life. Do your blessings make you thankful to God and draw you closer to him, or do they make you feel self-sufficient and forgetful of God?

How quickly we forget God's mercy.

But I, with a song of thanksgiving I will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord." [10] And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 2:9-10 (NIV)

Make a commitment:

  1. To worship God everyday
  2. To have a daily quiet
  3. To tithe weekly to God
  4. To Fellowship with believers in a small group