Shake the Box

Are you a “forgetter” or a “rememberer”? In Deuteronomy 8:11, we read, “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God.” Forgetters, when they achieve something great, say, “Wow! Look what my hard work has achieved!” In crisis, forgetters turn to God, but when things go well, they pray less. In contrast, when life is good, rememberers give God glory. The more they achieve, the more humble they become. They say, “Look what God has done. I give Him the glory.”

In Deuteronomy 8, God warns: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth” (vv. 17–18). God wants us to have the heart of a rememberer. Even in times of crisis, we can press into God out of a heart of gratefulness and thanksgiving.

There was an older woman who had many difficult times in her life, but she always had a positive attitude. A young woman in the same church came to visit her. She said, “I don’t know how you do it. You always seem so positive.” The woman who had been walking with God a long time said, “I have a secret.” She went into her bedroom, reached under the bed, and pulled out a shoebox. She handed the girl the box and said, “This is the secret.” To her surprise, the younger woman saw a box full of stones. The woman explained, “Years ago, every time I was in a tough situation, and God answered a prayer, I would take a stone and put it in this box. I did the same thing every time I was anxious or every time God surprised me. I would remind myself: Don’t forget that God has been faithful.”

She continued, “Now, when I start feeling anxious or overwhelmed, I shake the box. It jogs my memory, and I remember, “God, You have been faithful to me, again and again.”

Some of us need to shake the box. We’re stuck in a season of complaint. We are focused on what we don’t have. We need to shake the box and remember how God has been faithful to us, over and over again. Shake the box. Remember the lessons. Say to God, “You have been faithful. I will not forget what You have done and what You have taught me.”