Sometimes our minds run back through the years and yearn for that better
time and place—the “good old days.”
But for some, the past harbors only bitter memories. Deep in the night,
they ponder their own failures, disillusionments, and fantasies, and think of
the cruel hand life has dealt them.
It’s better to remember the past as David did, by contemplating the good
that God has done, to “meditate on all [His] works; . . . muse on the work of
[His] hands” (Ps. 143:5). As we call to mind the lovingkindness of the Lord, we
can see His blessings through the years. These are the memories that foster the
highest good. They evoke a deep longing for more of God and more of His tender
care. They transform the past into a place of familiarity and fellowship with
our Lord.
I heard a story about an elderly woman who would sit in silence for
hours in her rocking chair, hands folded in her lap, eyes gazing off into the
far distance. One day her daughter asked, “Mother, what do you think about when
you sit there so quietly?” Her mother replied softly with a twinkle in her eye,
“That’s just between Jesus and me.”
I pray that our memories and meditations would draw us into His
presence.
Fellowship with God is the secret
of happiness now and forever. (RBC)
