“But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” Ex. 17:3
Were not these the same people who were slaves in Egypt? Were they not the people who witnessed their enemies perishing in the waters of the Yam Suph (Hebrew for Sea of Reeds), commonly called the Red Sea? Did they not experience the “bitter water made sweet” (Ex.15:22-27) and hungry multitudes being fed and miraculously sustained with elements from above (Ex.16)? These were the same people who experienced those gracious displays of God’s love and mighty power. Later, in the face of increasing anxieties and uncertainties, amnesia got a hold of them. They forgot the grace of God.
Grace is the undeserved favour of God. We have all experienced God’s favour that we did not deserve and could not earn. Let’s face it: we do not receive blessings and deliverances because we live righteous and sober lives, or because we have blundered on our journey through life. Unlike our fellow human beings, God sees us and knows us as we are, and also for who we will and can become. God does not treat us as our sins deserve, but looks at and beyond our faults. That’s grace!
This does not mean we must be presumptuous and prod happily along, doing as we please. No! God has standards that must be observed, one of which is to remember God’s graciousness. You and I are where we are today because of the grace of God.
Our daughter’s going off to France caused me much anxiety. The only reason why my journey ended at the airport in Montego Bay and not at her home in France was because I had to be strong, and, worse yet, I could not afford it. However, I resolved that as night follows day, I would be in France in a few months. A couple weeks after she arrived there, I awoke from my amnesia of grace and remembered that I was younger than her when God took me from Jamaica to England, Ireland and other parts of Europe, and back to Jamaica, safe, sound, and a little wiser. In a flash I said: “God WILL take care of her”. At least she knows some French I knew no German.
How has forgetfulness of the grace of God influenced your life and your relationship with God? Or has it? What role has amnesia of God’s love and power played, or is playing, in your life right now?
Don’t allow amnesia of God’s grace to cause you to glimpse but never experience the Promised Land. God looks at us with tender love, so we must watch our eyes, ears, lips, mind, heart, hands and feet to ensure that God’s standards are not violated.
Whether it is pain, frustrations, disappointments, uncertainties, failures, anxieties, blunders, struggles or hardships, we must never forget the presence, provisions and deliverance of our loving, protective, gracious and caring God.
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