Write Down and Remember

I gave my therapist a high five and left the sterile occupational therapy office for good.

There was no stage to cross or tassel to turn, still it was a graduation of sorts. It filled me with elation and left me speechless like the day I walked across a stage to shake the right hand of the president of my alma mater and receive a diploma in my left.

Before graduating from OT, my therapist read notes from our first visit, rattling off goals and measurements we made together six months ago. Goals I had forgotten! Time had crawled along so slowly that I felt my body had stalled and healing had stalled with it. Frustration and impatience caused me to miss that microscopic changes were occurring, healing was happening.

Often, real change happens in small increments that we may not notice. This is true for physical healing as well as spiritual healing. Becoming more like Christ happens in one moment (salvation) and in a lifetime of moments (sanctification). It is the work of the Holy Spirit who is constantly healing and shaping our hearts, but if we’re not careful, we’ll miss it entirely.

No wonder the Bible repeatedly commands us to “remember,” “remind,” and “write down” the faithful deeds of the Lord. (See Exodus 34:27, Psalm 71:16, Numbers 15:39.) Without these notes, we would likely forget the helpless situation we were in until God rescued us. It would be easy to either deny any change had occurred or worse, take credit for the change ourselves. Writing down and carefully remembering God’s faithfulness is a remedy that brings about spiritual healing.

God knows our tendency to be forgetful which explains why you’ll find a command to remember even at the end of the Bible. “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5). Realizing my own bent toward forgetfulness on my graduation day convinced me to keep a journal of God’s grace and faithfulness.

How do you write down and remember God’s faithfulness in your life?