Remember

He doesn't remember.

I stood in the bathroom this morning, primping and pruning from head to toe. Blow drying my hair, applying the right amount of lip gloss . . . all of this makes me look pretty polished on the outside. Most of the time, I can even convince myself that I have it all together.

But every once in a while, in His tender love, God will remove the make-up and reveal what's really going on inside. The truth of the matter is that I am a sinner, saved by grace.

Underneath the smile, is a girl who's broken. She will sometimes be harboring terrible pain, and at other times striving to overcome insurmountable obstacles. Her thoughts have a tendency to hinge on self pity or judgement. She is easily tempted to think the wrong kind of thoughts, everything that opposes the beauty of what's pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy - you get the picture. At times, she can be downright self serving, stingy, pushy, intolerant . . . I speak of the woman I used to be before Christ rescued me.

But these days, I have been delivered from that miserable existence. So why do I keep behaving like her?

I got to thinking this morning, about some of my mistakes from the past. We all have them, things we wish we hadn't done, people we wish we hadn't hurt - bridges we've burned. I was reminding God of where I had been in my life, and all of the lousy things I've done, wondering how in the world He can be using me for ministry.

My thoughts went something like this, "There was that time God, when I did this and I did that - don't you remember that? Don't you remember how I broke your heart?"

"And then there was the time when I was quiet when I should have spoken up - when all I cared about was myself. You remember that don't you?"

Silence was all I heard, followed by the most amazing three words . . .

"I don't remember."

I stood dumbfounded. God doesn't remember? I am in absolute awe of this concept. The God of the universe, my Creator and Heavenly Father - the one who was present during the worst of my sin - because of what Jesus has done, HE IS CHOOSING not to remember any of it. God (the One able to carry out my judgement) chooses to forget.

I began to realize that I have been walking around for far too long, believing that I am a product of my poor choices. The enemy is constantly having me believe that I will never change - that I will always be stuck in this rut. But God's Word offers a new way of thinking.

What are you holding on to, that God has long forgotten about? If Jesus Christ is the Lord of your life, then God doesn't give one thought to all of the terrible mistakes you've made.

My dear friend, then why in the world should you?