“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits.” — Psalm 103:2 (NKJV)
Isn’t it amazing how easily we forget things? Sometimes it’s something simple, like someone’s name. Other times, and far more importantly, it’s the goodness of God. We can remember every disappointment, every frustrating conversation, and every problem we’re facing, yet somehow forget the countless times the Lord has delivered us.
I had one of those moments recently when I couldn’t remember the name of my dermatologist. I knew it was the name of a flower, and I went through practically every flower on the planet trying to remember it. Finally, orchid! I even had a little memory trick involving an orca, the killer whale. Somehow, even that had disappeared into the clutter!
I think sometimes we simply have too much running around in our heads. We’re thinking about yesterday, worrying about tomorrow, trying to solve today’s problems, and somewhere in the middle of all that noise, we’re trying to hear the Spirit of God.
Sometimes I think we need to defrag our brains.
Anybody who worked with computers back in the ’90s and early 2000s probably remembers defragging a hard drive. Information became scattered across the drive, and although it was still there, the computer had to work harder to retrieve it. Defragging reorganized the information so everything could operate more efficiently.
Sometimes my brain feels exactly like that.
And then there’s the muttering. I talk to myself. A lot. Recently, I was working in video production, muttering my way through some technical problem, when I realized the sound guy was doing exactly the same thing. He noticed it too and said something like, “Isn’t that just like tech people? We talk to ourselves.” I started laughing because there we were, two guys carrying on two completely different conversations with ourselves, and neither one of us was answering the other!
But there’s a difference between muttering through the clutter and speaking life over ourselves.
David understood the importance of remembering. In Psalm 77:11–12, he declared that he would remember the works of the Lord, meditate on His works, and talk of His deeds. Notice that progression. Remember, meditate, and speak.
Now consider Psalm 78:10–11. Israel repeatedly forgot God’s works and the wonders He had shown them. Think about that! They watched God split the Red Sea. They followed the cloud by day and the fire by night. They ate manna in the wilderness and witnessed His provision year after year.
Yet somehow, surrounded by the clutter of their immediate circumstances, they kept forgetting what He had already done.
And here’s the part that amazes me.
Their enemies hadn’t forgotten!
When the spies entered Jericho, Rahab told them how the people had heard about the Lord drying up the Red Sea. She explained that their hearts had melted with fear because of what they had heard (Joshua 2:10–11).
Israel had spent years struggling with fear, doubt, and unbelief, while the people on the other side of the Jordan remembered the mighty works of Israel’s God.
The enemy remembered what God’s people had forgotten.
Maybe that’s part of our problem sometimes. We’ve allowed today’s clutter to put too much dead space between yesterday’s testimonies. We replay disappointments, revisit failures, rehearse fears, and remember conversations we’d be better off forgetting.
Meanwhile, buried underneath all that fragmentation are the memories of every time God showed up.
Maybe it’s time for a spiritual defrag.
Isaiah 26:3 reminds us that God keeps in perfect peace the one whose mind is stayed on Him. Paul tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) and to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
That’s not pretending our problems don’t exist. It’s choosing what gets the prominent space in our minds and souls.
Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Not everything weighing us down is necessarily sinful. Sometimes it’s simply something we’ve been carrying around far longer than we needed to.
And Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach His disciples and bring His words to their remembrance (John 14:26). What a wonderful reminder that we’re not left to navigate the noise of this world without the help of the Spirit of God.
So remember what God has done.
Remember where He found you. Remember what He brought you through. Remember the prayer He answered, the door He opened, and the provision that arrived when you had no idea where it was coming from.
Remember the Red Seas He’s already parted in your life.
Instead of muttering about everything cluttering your mind, begin declaring the goodness of God over your life. Make the main thing the main thing again.
Jesus said He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Maybe you haven’t lost your memory after all.
Maybe some things just need to be defragged.
Prayer
Father, I pray for my friends today. Help us make the main thing the main thing. Defrag all the stuff that has occupied space in our minds and souls that doesn’t need to be there anymore. Help us lay aside the things from the past that we keep replaying and revisiting. Bring every thought into captivity, Lord, and remind us of Your goodness. Restack the testimonies. Bring back to our remembrance the prayers You’ve answered, the places You’ve delivered us from, and every Red Sea You’ve already brought us through. Get rid of the dead space between the blessings so that instead of muttering through the clutter, we begin declaring the goodness of God over our lives. You have given us life and life more abundantly, and today we choose to remember. In Jesus’ name, amen.