5-5-25<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is there anything<\/em> more embarrassing than running into somebody, or being introduced, and\u2026 it is someone who knows you already? Who picks up a previous conversation? But you don\u2019t recognize the person?<\/em> Before you know it, it\u2019s too late to ask, \u201cExcuse me, but who are you???<\/em>\u201d And nobody comes to your rescue\u2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have all been there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my own solutions is quickly to ask if the person ever returned the hundred dollars I loaned. Of course I am informed that I have him or her confused with someone else; and I am told, emphatically, who<\/em> this person is, after all. A good idea, and some day it even might earn me a C-note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seriously, we do go through life occasionally forgetting names, faces, mutual friends, and so forth. We are all busy, and, after all, there are more than 7-billion people in this world. Among the nuances in memory-functions, there is the \u201cphotographic memory,\u201d a long-term phenomenon where facts and visual details are recalled to a great degree. It can be a blessing or curse; my father\u2019s cousin had this ability, and was able, despite herself, to recite pages of books she had not seen, nor cared about, since years earlier. An \u201ceidetic memory\u201d is similar but involves the ability to recall penumbrances \u2013 not only a face and a person\u2019s name, but when and where the parties met; what aromas were in the air; what music was played in the distance; what someone wore; and so forth to other irrelevancies. Theodore Roosevelt was graced with both gifts, enabling him to read and successfully be quizzed on a book he rapidly scanned; and to recall minute details about folks he met in a crowd decades previous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So who can expect us to recall everybody, every name, every event, every detail\u2026? Is there anyone who can remember, and know, everything about you, down to the last detail? Things you don\u2019t even know about yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, God can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t dismiss that with a \u201cOh, sure. God can do anything.\u201d There are implications we ought to\u2026 remember. The Bible provides prompts and memory-jogs, in case you forgot: He knows our innermost thoughts. No, you don\u2019t have to talk in your sleep. It is something that God does because He can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He knew us from the moment we were conceived; He knew us in our mothers\u2019 wombs; He loved us, loves us, and will love us all the days He has called us to, going forward. It is something that God does because He can. (And something to remember when abortions are discussed\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n I invite you to reverse the course of such things in your mind. No, we are not God so we cannot exercise such miraculous powers of recollection. But how often do you remember God\u2026 how well do you know<\/em> Him?… how close is He to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA constant Friend is He\u201d \u2013 is that the God you know? Continuously at your side?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is He an ever-present help in times of trouble\u2026 or do you tend to turn to Him only<\/em> when you have troubles?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have communication with God throughout the day? Do you remember that He yearns to know not only the burdens of our hearts, but He delights in our joys too? You can have earnest, formal prayers\u2026 but you also can just-plain chat with Him!<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you see someone who is hurting or alone or suffering or needs spiritual sympathy, aid, and nurture\u2026 do you remember that you should see God in that person \u2013 or a \u201cGod hole\u201d that needs to be filled?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is God someone you only occasionally remember? Do you recall that Jesus wants to be your Savior\u2026 but also your Friend? Have you remembered that the job description of the Holy Spirit is not only to empower you, but to\u2026 comfort you, as only a true Friend can do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This God we are discussing loves you so much He sacrificed His Son to cover the debt of your sins. Yet\u2026 we are told that if we treat Him like a stranger, He will say, \u201cAway! I never knew you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He knows us so well that He counts the hairs on our heads. Is that even useful? God thinks so; but anyway it is something that God does because He can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n