Memories Bitter And Sweet

Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me.

Job 29:2

Life in the United States in the 1950s is what some people refer to as the “good old days.” In fact, a popular television sitcom that aired from 1974 to 1984 captured the era with its title: Happy Days. History’s largest war was over, American factories were producing baby strollers instead of bullets, a hero-general was president, and the revolutionary 1960s had not even been thought of.

Job and his family enjoyed their own “happy days” before their lives were crushed by adversity. And from that point on, Job had two kinds of memories: the sweet and the severe. He longed for his happier days: “When my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!” (Job 29:6). But it was his adversity and suffering that ultimately allowed Job to create even better memories—memories of an encounter with God that changed his life forever and for the better.

Every person has both kinds of memories. But we live in the present, not the past. Ask God for grace to find His lessons in every event and every memory, to let go of the past, rejoice in the present, and reach for the future—“the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Meditation is the best help to memory.

MATTHEW HENRY