“Xtreme Faith: When You Can’t Help Remembering”
1 Sam. 7:2-13
Why is it that the things I want to forget I remember and the things I want to remember I forget? It has something to do with the fact that the negative and painful are often more powerful than the positive and soothing, especially when the negative and painful are unresolved; when unresolved they just keep growing larger and more powerful. Is it possible, then, to alter our memory cycles? When you can’t help remembering, what can you do? 1 Samuel 7 guides us.
The reason we even raise the question is because there is so often A STIRRING UP. (2) Israel was tired of living in the shadow of defeat and despair. Israel had gone through a difficult period when the Ark of the Covenant – the presence of God – belonged to foreigners. It had been captured and carted off. They finally recovered the ark and for 20 years now it had been back in their possession, but little had changed. They had the presence of God but didn’t live as if they had the presence of God. They were learning that having the ark in their territory didn’t automatically solve their problems. They still were wallowing in difficulty, defeat, and despair. It had been so long since they had seen God do something powerful that their memories were all negative and painful. All they had were mournful memories so they begin to seek the Lord.
Mournful memories – something with which we are all too familiar. We have no problem REMEMBERING FACES, CIRCUMSTANCES, AND EMOTIONS that stir up negative and painful feelings. We remember our failures, or the comments and treatment by others that cause us to feel our inadequacy. We recall hurts we’ve received and hurts we’ve inflicted. And we are often filled with a mixture of hate, fear, guilt, and anger – the very things that lead to heart disease and degenerative illnesses.
Our minds react in a number of ways. WE FEEL REMORSE; we repeatedly ask ourselves why we did or didn’t do certain things, or how we could have been so stupid. We might EXPERIENCE REGRET and start wishing we could have a do over as we replay the faces of those we’ve hurt or who hurt us. Sometimes we are FILLED WITH RECRIMINATION. We experience a burning desire to punish, to get even, to blame others – to not forgive them and make them pay. All the while we keep nursing these memories, which is, as Lloyd Ogilvie pointed out, like taking a constant dose of poison.
Israel’s healing began when there was A CALLING UP. Samuel preached the Word of God to them. (3) “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts” (if you are really serious about seeking the Lord) “then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only…” Check your hearts; check your lives; don’t pay the Lord lip service; show you’re serious. Samuel was ready to lead them into re-establishing the covenant – to re-committing themselves to God. He knew that healing only begins with a return to the healer. So we will offer a time for healing after God speaks through His Word.
Similarly, we must BE WILLING TO OPEN UP OUR HEARTS AND LIVES TO GOD. We must truly desire to do the hard, perhaps even painful work of identifying who or what we hate, who or what we fear, when we sinned, and where our anger began. It’s my prayer that our worship this morning will prepare your heart to do just that, to respond to the call of Isaiah (1:16-17) “…wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right.” Be willing to get rid of whatever stands between you and God, to stop doing whatever keeps you from receiving the full blessings of God.
The Calling Up led to A CLEANING UP. The Israelites immediately showed their desire to change by tearing down and putting away their idols (4). Then Samuel led them in a time of confession and repentance. (6) “…they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord.’” Forgiveness is the pathway to a richer future – AND WE CANNOT FORGIVE ANYONE ELSE UNTIL WE HAVE FIRST RECEIVED AND ACCEPTED OUR FORGIVENESS. That’s why we spent time in confession this morning, to prime the pump of confession, to open up the flow of God’s forgiveness into our hearts. While there is value in privately confessing our sins, God provides a special healing when we together, corporately confess our sins and pray. Isaiah called out (55:6-7) “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” James stated it very clearly (5:16) “Therefore confess your sins to another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” In fact, GOD WILL NOT LISTEN TO OUR PRAYERS UNLESS WE HONESTLY REPENT. (Ps. 66:18) “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened…” (Ps. 51:17) “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” The bottom line is that WE WILL NOT EXPERIENCE HEALING OF OUR MEMORIES UNTIL WE HAVE FORGIVEN OURSELVES AND OTHERS.
The time of Cleaning Up, of confession and repentance, was followed by a time of LIFTING UP. As Israel gathered together for this time of renewal, the enemy Philistines took notice. They feared that Israel was preparing to mount an attack. So the Philistines decided to get a jump and set out to attack Israel. With another bad memory developing on the horizon Israel called to Samuel to pray for them and (9) “He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf.” Certainly we need to read the Bible and pray by ourselves; but some things need the help and support of the community of believers. One bee could build a nest or make a full honeycomb – given enough time. But together a hive of bees can do it much more quickly and powerfully. God has designed it so SOME HEALING TAKES THE PRAYERS AND HELP OF HIS PEOPLE. James 5:13-15: “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.”
Sure enough, even as Samuel and the Israelites were together praying, God was already at work, defeating the Philistines. He used thunder to cause them panic which allowed the Israelites to overtake and defeat them. Prayer had won the day. How true it is that EVEN AS WE PRAY GOD IS DELIVERING US. Even as we pray the Holy Spirit is moving among us, around us, and through us. That’s part of the reason for anointing with oil – it is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and expresses our belief that He is working as we pray.
The whole scene ends with A SETTING UP. Samuel (12) “…took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘thus far has the Lord helped us.’ The Israelites had a history of setting up stone monuments as places of remembrance – each one to remind God’s people that God has helped them and would continue to do so if they trust and obey Him. The stones give hope of victory. The stones replace the bad memories with new, good memories. STONES MARK THE BEGINNING OF A NEW PAST. As Isaiah proclaimed it (43:18-19) “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Creating occasions for remembering the actions of God in our lives is important. Training ourselves to spend time reflecting upon how God has poured out his grace, mercy, and deliverance upon us is important. It gives us stability in our present and hope for our future. It creates new, powerful memories to occupy and transform our minds.
There’s another monument that is important to us. It’s the cross of Calvary upon which Jesus died. By His stripes we are healed; through His death we have victory over sin and death. From it we learn, as the disciples learned, that THE VERY PLACES OF OUR DEFEATS ARE OFTEN BUT THE SEEDBEDS OF VICTORY; THE VERY PLACES OF BAD MEMORIES CAN BECOME THE PLACES OF GOOD MEMORIES. The late Alexander Maclaren wrote, “The best use of memory is to mark more plainly than it could be seen at the moment the divine help which has filled our lives. Like some track on a mountain side, it is less discernible to us, when treading it, than when we look at it from the other side of the glen. Many parts of our lives, that seemed unmarked by any consciousness of God's help while they were present, flash up into clearness when seen through the revealing light of memory, and gleam purple in it, while they looked but bare rocks as long as we were stumbling among them. It is blessed to remember, and to see everywhere God's help. We do not remember aright unless we do. The stone that commemorates our lives should bear no name but one, and this should be all that is read upon it: 'Now unto Him that kept us from falling, unto Him be glory!'”
Years ago one of our sons – age 10-12 – spoke some remarkable words. I had been ill. He was outside and saw a rainbow which he perceived as being over our house. He came inside and said, “Are you better yet? I thought maybe you were being healed.” At that young age he had already made the connection that healing comes from God, that we are under the rainbow of His love and faithfulness even in the darker times of life when we may not realize it. Now that’s a good memory to store in our minds!
The only way to store up good memories is to give the Lord opportunities to heal us and to do new things with, in, and among us. This morning you have such an opportunity. In a few moments I will invite you to come forward for prayer - to bring your bad memories; to bring your hate, fear, guilt, and anger; to bring your illness, your broken heart, your concern for loved ones; to bring your grief, your pain, even your disappointments with God; to bring your sin. Let’s prepare to “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”
