I have the worst natural eyesight out of nearly anyone I’ve ever met, which is quite a feat in and of itself as I have worked in an eye doctor’s office for about five and a half years. Over this time, I have recorded the natural, uncorrected vision of several thousand people and out of those encounters I can count on both hands (with fingers left over!) how many I remember having a stronger prescription than mine.
Most people don’t know this because I usually wear contact lenses or glasses, and my vision then becomes as normal as the average person. But take my glasses away from me and stand really still, and I probably won’t even see you across the room- you just blur into the background like a bad watercolor painting.
That is, until a chilly morning in February of this year, when I had a special type of laser surgery on my eyes that literally changed my life.
Sitting in that pre-op room, the smell of Betadine in the air, the sound of crinkly plastic reminding me of the shower cap-like hair net on my head, as I looked down I wasn’t even able to see the glasses I was holding in my lap, much less make out the face of my surgeon sitting across from me. And then, about 6 hours later, I was seeing the clearest I have ever seen in my life- better than I had ever seen with the artificial aid of glasses or contact lenses.
It was freedom.
It was beautiful.
I knew this would change everything. I had dreamed about this moment, knowing that from here on out even the most mundane, normal days would crumble away into being special and wonderful; surely every day will start off with the warm and happy remembrance that I can now SEE; surely even my heart would not complain so much about day-to-day things because how can one ever complain again when granted such an awesome and terrific, drastic, life-changing gift such as almost-literally going from being blind to granted perfect sight?? Would not each day then be filled with joy and gratefulness and warmth and contentment in knowing what you now possess?
If only.
Within days of the surgery, it became so very much second-nature to see perfectly that I began to forget that the procedure ever happened and that my original extreme nearsightedness ever existed.
That which was once looked upon as special and beautiful, has now become commonplace.
That which was once looked upon as a precious gift, to be quietly and earnestly treasured, has now become ordinary and is no longer exciting feelings of supreme contentment or bliss.
That which was once looked upon as the greatest of privileges has now become to be expected.
Sadly, discontentment raised it’s ugly Hydra-heads once again. Normal life returned, with its periodic ups and downs and utter normal-ness. The idyllic everyday happiness and perceived feelings of eternal gratefulness slipped away; other things and pursuits began to advertise their shady whereabouts, promising that they would be found there, truly, this time, “if I only had [fill in the blank].”
How can such a life-altering circumstance be so quickly forgotten?
Did it have to do with the degree of change, that it was not great enough? No- This has truly, literally, changed my life because I no longer have to deal with wearing uncomfortable contacts or glasses, waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to see, now being able to see further and more detailed than ever before.
The reason for it being forgotten is simply that I just don’t remember.
Remembering is a conscious effort. Without continual, habitual reminders (such as grief, pain, or necessity) or proactive conscious remembrance (choosing to remember something because we hold it in high esteem or priority), we forget.
I was convicted of my lack of Remembrance the other day as I had a rare quiet morning alone with the Lord and was being reminded of Who He is and what He has done for me. I had been musing over so many of my fleshly reactions to different things- fear, being overwhelmed, stressed, feeling as if I must handle everything in my own strength, worry, trying to plan ahead the course I thought best. God reminded me that He alone is the Sovereign, All-Wise One, who sees all and is working all things together for my good and His glory. He reminded me that He alone holds the hearts of kings and other authorities in His hands, and that the things I see as impossible and intimidating, He holds the supreme control over all of them, without question. Nothing is hard for my God. He reminded me that He is the Holy One, completely Other, worthy of my entire life and devotion. He reminded me of His terrible wrath and complete justice against sin, without compromise, and of His overwhelming abundant grace and pursuing love with which He provided the complete payment for my sins in the propitiationial sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. He reminded me how I truly have been brought from death to life with the blood of Jesus Christ.
From death, to abundant Life.
That’s as cataclysmically opposite as you can get.
And still I neglect to Remember.
How does a resurrected one forget? The mere thought of this is absurd. Forgetting about a sight-altering surgery is one thing, but a dead man being brought to life- how can anything be normal and taken for granted ever again?? How can anything pale in comparison to love and devotion and marvel at the One who has granted life to my dead and completely hopeless soul?
And yet, this is what I do, by taking my eyes off of the Lord and what He has done for me, of Who He is instead of what culture and feelings tell me He is, instead of choosing to remember His Word and His hand. This is why Scripture is so adamant, especially in the Old Testament, reminding us again and again and again and again and again to REMEMBER the Lord and what He has said, what He has done for us. To go against the nature of my forgetful human heart and to fix my eyes on His face alone.
Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart… Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV
Therefore watch yourselves very carefully…beware lest you act corruptly…beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them…take care lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God…for the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:15a, 19a, 23a, 24 ESV
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates…take care lest you forget the LORD… Deuteronomy 6:5-9, 12a ESV
Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His rules and His statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.” You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve the and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 8:11-20 ESV
Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.” This will lead to the sweeping away of the moist and dry alike. The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. Deuteronomy 29:18-20 ESV
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring might live, loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days… Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV
Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. Deuteronomy 32:46b-47 ESV
…Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God… Joshua 23:11 ESV
God wasn’t kidding when He laid it out so clearly, so solemnly, in Scripture that we are to Remember Him.
Remembrance.
Active, conscious Remembrance.
What do you need to choose to Remember of the LORD today?
