Skip to content ↓

Do You Fail to Deliberately Remember?

Reading Classics Together

We forget. Often we forget because we fail to deliberately remember—to remember and recount the goodness and mercy of God. In his work The Mystery of Providence, John Flavel gives a series of cautions to Christians who may be prone to this temptation to forget.

Forgetting God’s past faithfulness deprives you of the comfort you want and God of the glory he deserves.

Do not forget God’s care and kindness. All throughout your life you have been the beneficiary of God’s kind providence. Yet is it possible that God could charge you in the same way he charged Israel: “But they soon forgot his works” (Psalm 106:13)? The human memory tends to be both faulty and slippery when it comes to remembering God’s mercy. But there is a high cost: Forgetting God’s past faithfulness deprives you of the comfort you want and God of the glory he deserves.

Do not distrust God in future times of need. God has been faithful in the past, so why doubt his provision in the future? Yet this was exactly the temptation that Israel faced: “He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people” (Psalm 78:20)? It is both unreasonable and absurd to distrust God for the future when his care has been so clear throughout your life.

Do not grumble when your circumstances change. We are all tempted to grumble when our circumstances change from favorable to unfavorable. But grumbling is not made any less sinful simply because it is so common. If we acknowledge the sheer evil of the sin of grumbling we will be quick to identify and admire God’s bounty in every circumstance. We will be equally slow to complain when we perceive that they have become unfavorable.

You can have confidence that the circumstance you experience now is the one God has determined is best for you, and equal confidence that some day you will judge it so.

Do not show any discontentment. Do not show even slightest discontentment with the situation in which God places you. Instead, choose to be pleased and satisfied with all that God gives you. Choose to say, with David, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:6). You can have confidence that the circumstance you experience now is the one God has determined is best for you, and equal confidence that some day you will judge it so.

Do not neglect God in your times of desperation. If you truly believe that it is God’s providence that dispenses all circumstances, then it is your responsibility to continue to pursue and worship God in every one of them. Remember God’s command: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Remember God and he will not forget you.

Do not distract yourself with sinful worries. Jesus told us that when we are concerned about provision we simply need to look at the birds. Yet he did not tell us to look at the pet birds that are fed by hand every day, but to the wild birds who do not know where their next meal will come from. After all, God provides even for these. Won’t he then also provide for you? Do not allow sinful worries to distract you from living and rejoicing.

Through it all, remember who you are in Christ, remember his promises, and work those promises into your heart until you are satisfied and content with all that God’s providence has given you.

Next Week

We will continue our reading next week with chapter 6: “God’s Providence in Our Preservation.” Read it by next Thursday and check in to see what I (and others) have to say about it.

Your Turn

The purpose of this project is to read classics together. So do feel free to leave a comment if you have something you would like to say. Alternatively, you may leave a link to your blog or Facebook or anywhere else you have reflected on what you have read.

If you would like to read along with us, we have only just begun, so there is lots of time to get caught up. Simply get a copy of the book and start reading…


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 19)

    A La Carte: How to know if you’re using God / The soul-poison of the little word ‘should’ / True, false, or heresy? / Truthful thinking is greater than positive thinking / Unless the seed dies / and more.

  • The Phrase that Altered My Thinking Forever

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing and is written by Ralph Cunnington. Years ago, I stumbled repeatedly on an ancient phrase that altered my thinking forever.  Distinct yet inseparable. The first time I encountered this phrase was while studying the Council of Chalcedon’s description of the two natures of Christ. Soon after,…

  • Always Look for the Light

    Always Look for the Light

    For many years there was a little potted plant on our kitchen window sill, though I’ve long since forgotten the variety. Year after year that plant would put out a shoot and from the shoot would emerge a single flower. And I observed that no matter how I turned the pot, the flower would respond.…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 18)

    A La Carte: God is good and does good—even in our pain / Dear bride and groom / Sin won’t comfort you / Worthy of the gospel / From self-sufficiency to trusting God’s people / The gods fight for our devotion / and more.

  • Confidence

    God Takes Us Into His Confidence

    Here is another Sunday devotional—a brief thought to orient your heart toward the Lord. God takes the initiative in establishing relationship by reaching out to helpless humanity. He reveals himself to the creatures he has made. But what does it mean for him to provide such revelation of himself? John Calvin began his Institutes by…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (March 16)

    A La Carte: I believe in the death of Julius Caesar and the resurrection of Jesus Christ / Reasons students and pastors shouldn’t use ChatGPT / A 1.3 gigpixel photo of a supernova / What two raw vegans taught me about sharing Jesus / If we realize we’re undeserving, suddenly the world comes alive /…