In our word of encouragement today, I want to remind you of something: it is very good to maintain the habit of “Reminding the Redeemer.”
But you have said, “I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.” (Genesis 32:12)
Now, we certainly know that reminding the Redeemer is not for His benefit. Our God knows everything and forgets nothing. It might seem a bit silly to say that it is a good thing to be in the habit of reminding God of something He has said. But here in today’s verse, we see Jacob repeating (and applying to himself) the covenant promise God had made to his father Abraham years before (Genesis 22:17).
The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, explained it this way:
This is the sure way of prevailing with the Lord in prayer. We may humbly remind Him of what He has said. Our faithful God will never run back from His word, nor will He leave it unfulfilled; yet he loves to be inquired of by His people and put in mind of His promise. This is refreshing to their memories, reviving to their faith, and renewing to their hope.
Think about it this way. God set His Word down in writing through the inspired writers, not so He would remember it, but so we would remember it. And the only way we will remember it is if we are reading it in the first place. The Word of God cannot be refreshing to the memory if it has not been put in the memory first!
So let me ask you: When was the last time you entered the throne room of grace with the words “But you have said . . .”?
God loves when we approach Him in humility and He has invited us to do so. He has even provided us this reminder for our minds: “But you have said!” God has said so much in His Word that is intended to be a fountain overflowing to refresh and strengthen our faith. Promise after promise, given freely to all those who are in Christ Jesus, and not one of them will fall by the wayside. Every one of God’s promises is YES and AMEN in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). And notice these divinely inspired words from the Genesis 32:12 passage above:
I WILL SURELY MAKE YOU PROSPER!
God has planned prosperity for you, but not as the world defines it. God has promised to prosper you in things above, not things below. Yes, there are those Christians who find themselves enjoying great prosperity in all things below. God blesses us to be a blessing to others, but remember, it was once wisely said:
He who has God and everything else, has no more than He who has God and nothing else!
So . . . what promise do you need to remind God of today? When Jacob was reminding God of His promise to his father Abraham, he was in fear of his angry brother Esau. Is anything causing you anxiety today? Take it to God, being fully confident that He will surely do you good, in His perfect time and in His perfect way.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 