Don’t Forget what you Saw

Human beings are forgetful.  We forget everything from keys, to lunch, to post office runs, to the occasional teenager that we assumed was riding home from practice with their friend.

Most of our life is spent in the fog of busyness.  It is only on occasion that we have real moments of clarity.

We forget.  We forget names, dates, passwords, and combinations.  We forget facts.  We forget the answers to exams.  Yet, despite all of this forgetting, their is something we seem to forget more than anything else.

We forget how we feel and what we recognize in our moments of clarity.

Most of our life is spent in the fog of busyness.  It is only on occasion that we have real moments of clarity.  It is within the rare confines of these moments that we really see ourselves for who we are.  These are the moments when we recognize flaws and understand our shortcomings, and also our strengths, in a way that is more clear than any other time.

Sometimes this happens at a conference, a work convention, or during a sermon.  Occasionally it happens at a major life milestone or in the midst of a health crisis.  Yet, whatever the catalyst, it seems that we are no sooner away from the place where our epiphany was reached before we have forgotten what we was just so clear.

Sadly, times of fasting and prayer often lead to our greatest forgetfulness

A man will see the need to be more of a family man, yet on Monday he is right back in the grind with no thought of His revelation.  A child will see their parent laboring over some task, and in that moment realize how unappreciative they have been.  Yet, in a matter of hours they will be disrespectful and dismissive again.  A spouse will have an overwhelming sense of the effort put in by their significant other, but the next pet peeve crossed and all that was recognized becomes distant in a moment.

We forget.

Sadly, times of fasting and prayer often lead to our greatest forgetfulness.  We pray and read and God begins to speak to us.  We see in His Word just where and exactly how far we fall short.  Then, we close the book or end the fast, and as quickly as things rose to our attention, they fall by the wayside.  We forget.

James writes about the prevalence of this occurrence when reading God’s word.

James 1:22–24 

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;

24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.

I pray that you won’t allow this to happen to you this year.  Many are nearing the end of fasts and sacred times of consecration here at the three week mark of the new year.  No doubt, you have encountered God.  You have heard His voice and seen yourself in His light.  You have experienced real moments of clarity and understanding.

Don’t go away and forget what you saw.

Practical Tip:  Write down one thing that you have recognized needs work in your life.  Begin finding ways weekly and daily to work toward improving that area.

Whatever you do, don’t forget what you saw in your time of clarity.