Reminded by God

 He who made the Pleiades and Orion

And changes deep darkness into morning,

Who also darkens day into night,

Who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the surface of the earth,

The Lord is His name.

The Lord God of hosts,

The One who touches the land so that it melts,

And all those who dwell in it mourn,

And all of it rises up like the Nile

And subsides like the Nile of Egypt;

The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens

And has founded His vaulted dome over the earth,

He who calls for the waters of the sea

And pours them out on the face of the earth,

The Lord is His name.

Amos 5:8, 9:6-7

Two times in the midst of His dirge against Israel, God stops and reminds the Israelites of who He is and His great power. He not only does this in Amos, but this is a pattern throughout the Old Testament.  He starts this in Genesis 17:1 when He tells Abraham, "I am God Almighty, walk before Me and be blameless." He does this in the last few chapters of Job as He confronts Job with His power and majesty and starts off by saying, "Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you and you instruct Me!"  There are myriads of other times in the Old Testament where God has to remind those with whom He is dealing of exactly who He is.  

Sometimes today, with us, He has to remind us of who He is. Sometimes it is to put us in our place as we have become a little too big for our spiritual britches, and we need to be brought back to reality.  Sometimes it is because we need to see that He is bigger than our situation, or the people we are facing.  Sometimes it is to remind us that He is more than capable of delivering what He has promised.  Sometimes it is to remind us that He is God and we are not, or that He alone is God. Sometimes it is to remind us that we are not the captain of our ship or the master of our fate, but He is, and as such we are answerable to Him. Sometimes it is for comfort and sometimes for correction. Sometimes it is to remind us that He is bigger than life and all that it holds. All the time it is to give us the proper perspective on life, His perspective. 

We are forgetful by nature, and are often deceived by sin; and sometimes we have to be reminded of what we already know. That is why daily devotionals or consistent bible study is so good for us.  Through His word He speaks to us to remind us of all that He is and all that He has done. It is refreshing to be reminded. It is soul stirring to be reminded. It is necessary to be reminded. It is good for us to be reminded. Thanks be to God that He has not forgotten that.