FIVE-SECOND GOLDFISH MEMORY

I’ve heard it said that a goldfish has a memory that lasts about 5 seconds. So as it swims around its tiny round fishbowl with a castle in the center for decoration, it is constantly thinking, “Look, I have a castle.” 5 seconds. “Oh, wow! I have a castle.” 5 seconds. “Well, will you look at that. I have a castle!”

Friends, dare I say that we are a lot like the goldfish.

Have you ever read the Old Testament and thought something like, “How could the Israelites forget what God did for them?” All of the plagues in Egypt. Parting the Red Sea. Manna in the wilderness. Causing the walls of Jericho to fall down. Making the sun stand still.

We would never forget. Right?

Well, maybe not you. But I am guilty of forgetting the many ways God has blessed me and rescued me and sustained me. When life gets easy (or easier), I coast and my memories dim. And then life hits me up alongside the head, the storms rage, and I’m ready to shout, “Father, where are You? Don’t You care that I am perishing?” (see Mark 4:38-41)

Our five-second goldfish memories are one of the reasons it is so important to be saturated in the Word of God. To nail down those biblical truths and memorize those verses. It is also good, I believe, to write down those moments, circumstances, events when God showed up for us. So that the next time the winds rise and the storms rage, we can point to the past and say, “God didn’t fail me then. He won’t fail me now.”

Fourteen years ago this month, I wrote a blog post that asked others to share what Bible verses had kept the reader steady when the rest of the world seemed to be violently rocking. The two verses that came first to my mind back then were: “His grace is sufficient” (2 Corinthians 12:9) and “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). 

Today, I would say Isaiah 42:16, “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains. These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone” and Matthew 28:20b, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We need the Word of God hidden in our hearts so that we can overcome our five-second goldfish memories. We need to remember the goodness of God. We need to remember that He is more than able, no matter what we face.

Would you care to share a moment when God showed up for you? A memory that, despite the five-second tendency, you will never forget.

~robin