SPIRITUAL DEMENTIA

 “Praise the Lord, my soul and forget not all his benefits.” Psalm 103:2 (NIV)

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Dementia is the general term for those who experience memory loss and other abilities interfering with their routine and daily life.  Dementia patients can wander.  They may be walking to the post office but they get turned around, lost and unable to find their way back home.  Dementia patients can be easily agitated, repetitive, suspicious, even forgetting about personal hygiene, eating and drinking.  Dementia patients often forget the names and faces of their family and friends leaving their loved ones to cope with complex grief, loss, loneliness and heartbreak.  

When we forget who our God is we encounter much of what dementia sufferers experience.  We wander.  We get lost, turned around and easily agitated.  Others try to help us find our way back, praying for us but we are slipping away.  When we forget His face that looks at us with amazing love, we are broken.  Forgetting His Name, His Word, His promises,His character, His faithfulness, His many blessings to us causes doubt, struggle, worry, anxiety, unrest. Our growth is interrupted, stunted and it affects others.  We must not forget.  

David in the Psalms often starts out praying about his circumstances, then he begins to remember who God is and His past provision and faithfulness.  The same psalm will often end in David rejoicing, trusting, his strength and countenance renewed. 

Will you remember today the face, the name, the truth, His many blessings and faithfulness? Will you remember that He is on your side, He is for you?

PRAYER: Father God, help me in every circumstance to remember who You are and never forget all Your blessings and faithfulness in Jesus.  Amen.