When We Remember

Lately, God has been gently reminding me of the importance of remembering.

I know He is good. I know He is faithful. I know I can trust Him. But there is something powerful about recalling specific examples of how those things are true. When we take time to remember the ways God has worked, provided, answered, and carried us, it has a way of shifting our hearts back toward Him.

Looking back, I can see that this reminder came at a time when I needed it most. I found myself slowly drifting in my relationship with Jesus without even realizing it. At first, my relationship with Him went from being intentional and relational to becoming more routine. I was still doing the things I knew mattered, but my heart wasn’t as engaged. I was reading my Bible, praying, and spending time with God because I knew I should, not necessarily because I was eagerly pursuing time with Him. Over time, even my routine relationship became inconsistent. The habits that once brought me joy became easier to push aside, and before I knew it, I found myself noticing a distance between myself and God.

I think part of the answer is that I had stopped remembering.

I remember moments where I would finish spending time with God, or even pause in the middle of it, and think, “Where are You?” And almost instantly, I felt Him gently respond, “Where are you?”

The problem wasn’t His presence—it was mine.

He wasn’t the one who had moved. He was there. He was still faithful. He was still inviting me closer. He had been there the whole time.

It was me.  I was physically showing up, but my mind was somewhere else. My heart was distracted. I was showing up because I knew I should, but I wasn’t truly engaging with the One I was spending time with.

That realization convicted me deeply, and I wish I could say it immediately changed everything, but it didn’t.

For a while, I lived with that conviction without letting it change the way I was living. I continued showing up half-heartedly. I opened my Bible, but I wasn’t slowing down long enough to meditate on it, apply it, and ask God what He wanted to teach me.

Eventually, even that became inconsistent. Looking back, I don’t think I made one big decision to drift away from God. I think I made a thousand small decisions to give my attention somewhere else.

After living in that disconnected place for a while, I knew something had to change. I couldn’t stay there, and I didn’t want to continue drifting farther away.

The hard part was that even though I wanted to be close to God again, I didn’t necessarily feel motivated to do what it took to get there. I realized that if I waited until I felt like spending time with Him, I might be waiting a long time. It was going to have to be an intentional choice.

For me, that choice started with remembering.

At first, I thought remembering meant simply reminding myself that God is good, faithful, and trustworthy. But I already knew those things. What I needed was to remember the specific ways I had experienced His goodness, His faithfulness, and His presence in my own life.

I also needed to remember what life looked like when I was walking closely with Him. I remembered the peace I carried, the joy I experienced, the contentment I felt, and the excitement I had to continue growing in my relationship with Him.

The more I remembered, the more I realized I wasn’t just trying to get back to a spiritual routine. I was longing to return to the closeness I had once experienced with the God who had been faithful to me all along.

I wanted to want Him again.

As I remembered, I realized something else. It wasn’t just my circumstances that had changed over the years. I had changed.

I thought back to the woman I was before I built a relationship with Jesus and compared her to the woman He has been shaping me into. The difference was impossible to ignore.

Before, I was constantly looking ahead, convinced I would finally be happy when I reached the next season of life. But walking closely with Jesus taught me contentment. I learned to find joy where God had me instead of always wishing I was somewhere else.

I found a confidence I never had before, not confidence in myself, but confidence in who I am because of Christ. I became kinder, more aware of others, and although I still have plenty of growing to do, I noticed I wasn’t as easily consumed by offense as I once was.

I didn’t just miss the discipline of spending time with God. I missed the woman I was becoming when I walked closely with Him.

As I intentionally remembered, specific moments came flooding back. I thought about the classroom I had prayed for, the days I sat in classrooms I was subbing in, imagining what it would be like to one day have one of my own. There were moments I wondered if that day would ever come, but God was working even when I couldn’t see it.

I thought about a job opportunity I had before I received my classroom. On paper, it seemed like the obvious choice, but I felt a strong sense that I shouldn’t move forward with it. Looking back, I can see that God was already guiding me, even when I didn’t understand what He was doing. If I had taken that job, I likely would not have been in the position to receive the opportunity that eventually led me to the classroom I had prayed for.

I thought about the way God answered my prayers for Christian friendships. I remember seeing beautiful examples of Christ-centered friendships and thinking, “I want that.” Through church, serving, and Bible study, God slowly began building those friendships in my own life. What once felt like a prayer became something I now get to experience.

And then I thought about all the little moments, the moments that might seem insignificant to someone else, but where I knew God was reminding me, “I see you.” A perfectly timed text message. A worship song with exactly the words I needed to hear. A moment where I prayed over something difficult and saw God move.

Suddenly, God’s faithfulness wasn’t just something I believed. It was something I could point to.

Throughout Scripture, we see constant reminders from God not to forget. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and the fact that He repeatedly calls His people to remember shows us how important remembrance truly is.

One of the clearest examples of this is found in the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. They had personally witnessed God’s goodness. They saw Him rescue them from Egypt, part the Red Sea, provide for them in the wilderness, and guide them every step of the way. Yet when they faced new challenges, they often forgot what God had already done.

Their story reminds us that forgetting God’s faithfulness does not always mean we stop believing in Him. Sometimes it means we stop allowing what we know about Him to shape the way we live.

We see a similar reminder in Jesus’ message to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2. This was a church that was doing many things right. They were working hard, persevering, and standing firm in their faith. Yet Jesus told them, “You have abandoned the love you had at first.” Their actions remained, but their affection had faded.

And what was Jesus’ instruction to them? “Remember therefore from where you have fallen.”

He didn’t tell them to simply try harder or do more. He called them to remember.

Remembering is often the first step toward returning.

I think there is a reason God repeatedly calls us to remember. When we remember His faithfulness, our hearts are drawn back to Him.

Remember the prayers He has answered. Remember the moments He has carried you. Remember the ways He has provided, guided, and reminded you that He sees you.

Remember who you were becoming when you were walking closely with Him.

When we intentionally remember God’s faithfulness, our hearts are drawn back to Him. We remember who He is. We remember who we are because of Him. And we remember that the same God who has been faithful in the past is the same God who is faithful today and will continue to be faithful in whatever comes next.