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Remembering the Lord your God

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,
12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,
13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,
14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,
16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.
17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’
18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.
20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.
Exodus 8:11-20
I stumbled across this passage doing a word search this morning. And wow.

Since April, I've struggled with a mystery health issue. The conclusion is that I had a dormant Lyme infection with Babesiosis that suddenly became active. Recovery is s-l-o-w going. It has been a humbling experience.

"Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my had have gotten me this wealth.'"  

All the things I took pride in before have been nixed. My steel trap mind is no longer a steel trap- I don't remember what you said to me two seconds ago. My once huge stress tolerance level is now tiny- too long a line at the checkout and the panic starts to rise. My common answer to "hey, do you want to..." is "sorry, it's past my bedtime (8:30pm)".

The big things-- backing out of a police dispatch hiring process at the last step- and the little things-- having to ask someone to drive me to work when it was bad- have been a constant reminder of my lack of control. Frustration has reigned many days. But this...

"...that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end..."

...means there's hope- I've already seen good out of this when I choose to set aside the disappointments and failures. Even when we are faithless, He remains faithful.

"You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth..."
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