Memories

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“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, do; and the God of peace will be with you.” — Philippians 4:9

As humans we are not programmable computers with bits and bytes. Yet memories are indelibly etched in our minds and are recreated just like bringing up a document on a Mac or PC. But we relive memories through our senses. Sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing can restore a forgotten moment in our mental “flash drive” and cause happiness, or panic and fear. You might hear a particular song that takes you back to school days, perhaps the prom or a special dance. Baking peanut butter cookies, or hot oatmeal on a cold winter morning might find you in the kitchen where you grew up.

But unlike the programmable computer our memories cannot be erased. The bad thoughts come with the good, and, sights and sounds that frightened us as children can continue to create fear in us. Even as adults we can have memories engraved in our thought patterns from things we experience in battle that we’d rather not recall. Senses bring back a moment in time as if we were actually reliving it.

God knows how deeply etched those thoughts can be. Yet He wants to show us that He is present in our lives, in the past and in the future. He knows each “program” that’s been inserted into our emotional computers and wants to help us come to terms with the pain and hurt. The thought won’t be erased but the degree to which it controls can be diminished because He understands the bits and bytes—after all He created each one of us.

Questions to Share:

1. Share a memory with your spouse of something delightful from your childhood that is associated with one of your five senses.

2. Pray that you would each sense God’s presence in your lives—even in the memories.

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