Every Monday morning, our staff gathers for a brief prayer time to dedicate the week to God and ask for His guidance. Recently, we previewed the week and mentioned several needs. Only a few seconds later, I led in prayer and immediately went blank on a person we had just named. It’s not like I’ve never met her. I know her. Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind.
I put something important away for safekeeping, and it stays there because I can’t remember where I put it. I open the refrigerator door and stand there trying to remember what I was looking for. I constantly misplace my reading glasses. Some things I remember and some things I can’t. It’s a mystery of the human mind that is beyond my comprehension.
While in Florida, my son-in-law took me to a minor league baseball game between the St. Lucie Mets and the Port Charlotte Sandcrabs. The pitching coach for the Sandcrabs was an old, white-haired guy who looked like a baseball lifer. I looked up his name in the program: Phil Regan.
I told Perry, “That’s Phil Regan. He used to pitch for the Dodgers in the ‘60s and ‘70s. I have his 1966 baseball card. That’s the year Don Sutton broke into the starting rotation with the Dodgers, so Regan pitched with Sutton, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.”
I looked up Regan later, and amazed myself that my info was spot on. According to Wikipedia, Regan was a starter and reliever for the Tigers, Dodgers, Cubs and White Sox. He made 105 starts in his career, and pitched in 551 games.
Regan had a knack for coming into games in the final innings while his team was behind, and then when his team overcame the deficit, he would earn the win. His 14 wins in 1966 were mostly earned in relief. That’s why Sandy Koufax nicknamed him “The Vulture.”
He finished with a 96-81 record and recorded 92 saves. Now the 76-year-old works in the New York Mets organization, developing young pitchers.
I can’t remember to get an important item on a run to the grocery store, but I remember that I have Phil Regan’s 1966 Topps baseball card. How crazy is that?
Can you relate? This poem nails my predicament:
“My forgetter’s getting better, but my rememberer is broke,
“To you that may seem funny, but to me, that is no joke.
“For when I’m here I’m wondering if I really should be there,
“And when I try to think it through, I haven’t got a prayer!
“Often times I walk into a room, say, ‘what am I here for?’
“I wrack my brain, but all in vain, a zero is my score.
“At times I put something away, where it is safe, but, Gee!
“The person it is safest from is generally, me!
“When shopping I may see someone, say ‘Hi!’ and have a chat,
“Then, when the person walks away, I ask myself, ‘who’s that?’
“Yes, my forgetter’s getting better, while my rememberer is broke,
“And it’s driving me plumb crazy, and that isn’t any joke.”
Too often we forget what God has done for us. The Bible stresses the importance of remembering God’s work. Exodus 20:8 reads, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” We should focus on God daily, yet God sets aside one day for worship and rest. Is Sunday just another day?
In Exodus 13:3, Moses reminds the people of Israel about God’s work of deliverance: “Remember this day in which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place.”
Deut. 8:3, 18 reads, “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments . . .And you shall remember the Lord your God for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth . . .”
I Chronicles 16:12, “Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.”
Sometimes things slip our mind and we just forget. Sometimes the mental computer runs slowly. But some things we should never forget, like God’s greatness and His mighty work in our lives.
[Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville. The church family gathers at 352 McDonough Road and invites you to join them this Sunday for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55 a.m. Visit them on the web at www.mcdonoughroad.org.]
