The dusty dresser had not moved in twenty-five years since I first placed it in the garage. Hidden behind several boxes and bicycles, I managed to reach it. I knew we had used this dresser to store several household items such as handbags and other personal accessories. However, when I went through all of the shelves, I was astonished to find some important documents. On one shelf, there were several framed documents certifying my time as a medical resident and other certifications that I had completed, nearly thirty years earlier. I always wondered what happened to these documents. Now I knew! That’s where I put it!
On that same shelf was a framed photograph of a grinning man. He was one of my professors during my fellowship and we developed a great bond, always joking with one another. When I completed my training, I wrote to him and jokingly asked him for a photograph. Ever the comedian, he obliged and sent a black and white photocopy with the words, “You are a great pathologist when you’re not on drugs! All the best! Mort.” I chuckled as I remembered my many interactions with him.
I vaguely remembered the day I placed those documents and photograph there, thinking it would be an easy retrieval. I was mistaken. Why did I forget where I placed them? Out of sight, out of mind? Certainly, that is one explanation. The obvious explanation is these documents and photographs were less important to me than they once were. Even Mort had long disappeared from my life and active memories.
What about my spiritual life? Objects and many people have been forgotten. The other day, I found a collection of dirt placed in a bottle that a brother in Christ gave me when I left my home church in Denver and moved to Los Angeles. He gave it to me as a reminder of Denver, my home for a year. It, too, was hidden in a drawer of a forgotten dresser. As I reminisce over my life, I recall individuals who were an important part of my life for a few months or even years, yet I quickly forgot them. It is a stark reminder of how selfish I am and how fleeting my memory can be.
The Bible records an instance of such an encounter. A fellow prisoner of Joseph was troubled by a dream.
“This is what the dream means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift you up and restore you to your position as his chief cup-bearer. And please remember me and do me a favor when things go well for you. Mention me to Pharaoh, so he might let me out of this place. For I was kidnapped from my homeland, the land of the Hebrews, and now I’m here in prison, but I did nothing to deserve it.”
Genesis 40:12-15 (NLT)
Did the chief cup-bearer remember?
Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer, however, forgot all about Joseph, never giving him another thought.
Genesis 40:23 (NLT)
However, two years later, while Joseph languished in prison, the Pharaoh had a disturbing dream that no one could interpret. It was then the chief cup-bearer remembered Joseph.
Finally, the king’s chief cup-bearer spoke up. “Today I have been reminded of my failure,” he told Pharaoh. “Some time ago, you were angry with the chief baker and me, and you imprisoned us in the palace of the captain of the guard. One night the chief baker and I each had a dream, and each dream had its own meaning. There was a young Hebrew man with us in the prison who was a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he told us what each of our dreams meant. And everything happened just as he had predicted. I was restored to my position as cup-bearer, and the chief baker was executed and impaled on a pole.”
Genesis 41:9-13 (NLT)
One would think that the cup-bearer would remember a man who assisted him in saving his life and regaining his position in the Pharaoh’s court. Like my faulty memories, it would not be the case until an unexpected encounter reminds us of the previous relationship.
Thanks be to God that He never forgets us. He numbers the very hairs on our heads and knows every creature that He ever created or ever will create. I pray that God’s Holy Spirit will continue to bring to my remembrance the many Saints who have helped to guide my life and encouraged me to draw closer to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.
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