You have heard it said that "In God We Trust.” I want to say to you that in God we should also ENTRUST with our very selves, our whole identity, and all the memories we hold dear.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
- Psalm 139:1-6
Most of us know someone who has Alzheimer’s Disease. It is a brutal thing, taking away bits and pieces of our memories and personality, just a little bit at a time. When we look upon loved ones who were strong, smart, and able-bodied and see them in a state where we do not recognize them, and they do not recognize themselves, we are grieved. And, if you are like me, the thought of being one of the 6.5 million people who have Alzheimer’s is terrifying.
I would like to introduce you to the idea of f letting God hold our memories in trust for us. As we learn in the psalms, God has searched us and knows us. God knows what we will say, even before we say it. Also, God remembers all things. When burdens are too heavy to carry, Jesus tells us,
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
- Matthew 11:28-30
The one who creates and knows, also remembers. I’m not so much asking you to have God help you from losing your car keys (Although I have certainly prayed for help when I can’t). I am advocating for entrusting your whole self to God, to let be God be your keeper. Entrust all that is valuable with God, including your memories. After all, if God knows our days before we even live them, will not God hold those memories in trust for us, to give them back to us when we lose them? I choose to believe YES. God will give us back all that illness takes from us, even from diseases like Alzheimer’s.
In your book were written
all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
I come to the end—I am still with you.
-Psalm 139: 16-18
Grace and Peace,
Rob
