Years ago, Mom taught me a neat trick for those times when I can’t remember the name of someone or something.
“Go through the alphabet,” she suggested. “Usually a letter will stand out, and it will jog your memory.”
No doubt many of you have discovered the same strategy.
Now that I’m getting older, it has occurred to me: Is it my imagination, or am I using the alphabet to jog my memory more than I used to?
That question brought a silly visualization to my mind. Who is the oldest Person we know? God–he has always existed, even before time itself, right?
What if he experienced memory challenges? I can see him with his elbow propped on the throne, stroking the thick, white wool of his beard, the other hand tapping absent-mindedly against the folds of his glowing robe. He’s talking out loud to himself (another habit of the elderly).
“Oh, what is her name? I can see her face…She’s one of our brown-eyed, brown-haired children. I just love deep, dark eyes…Isn’t she the one We blessed with a raise, even though she didn’t ask for it? Oh, what is her name?”
I told you it was silly. God doesn’t have memory problems! He is all-powerful and all-knowing. Actually, considering his magnificent splendor, it’s really quite amazing he cares about us at all.
David wrote, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him” (Psalm 8:4)?
Mindful. I like that. God’s mind is full of us. He not only knows our names, he knows the number of hairs on each of our heads (Matthew 10:30). It stands to reason God knows our favorite colors, and what each of us was doing ten years ago today.
And when we consider he has planets, moons, and stars to orchestrate, it is no small wonder he concerns himself with such little specks as us.
Another psalmist wrote, “The Lord remembers us and will bless us” (Psalm 115:12a).
Not only does he remember who we are, he remembers our needs and blesses us accordingly.
Meditate on that concept for a moment. God supplies our every need.
James Janeway, a Puritan minister and author of the seventeenth century, said that such contemplations are enough to launch us forth into an ocean of goodness, where you can see no shore, nor feel the bottom. I like that, too.
Here’s another concept worthy of careful thought: God’s mindfulness did not begin when each of us was born. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). Could our days have been recorded without God’s knowledge? No. That means we have been on his mind since before each of our birth dates.
And last, God’s mindfulness will never end. He will continue to be mindful of us in the future, into infinity. “I will never stop doing good to them” (Jeremiah 32:40), He said. And “I will never forget you” (Isaiah 49:15b).
Oh, Father, thank you for your constant, caring attention. Thank you for your ocean of goodness from which you bless us. In return, may I be mindful of you, remembering the wonders you have done, your miracles (Psalm 105:5a). I want to praise you continually, and forget not one of all your benefits (103:2).
From the Inside Out 