Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: "Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times." And he broke down and wept. – Mark 14:72
Has God ever spoken something to you and then the next day, next week, next year you've completely forgotten about it? Then something comes up and suddenly you remember everything He said? I can recall doing that with a calling God made clear to me my freshman year of college. At that time I felt God was calling me to the mission field, but I also felt certain that I was to finish school first. I quickly got caught up in classes, majors, and future plans to the point that I forgot this calling. It wasn't until I was accepted into Regent University's School of Divinity with a full scholarship that I suddenly remembered several years before when God told me I would be doing this.
For a while I wondered how I could forget something that significant for my life. I found some comfort in the fact that I certainly was not the first to encounter this forgetfulness. In Mark 14 we find the story of the last Passover Jesus celebrated with His disciples before His crucifixion. At one point Jesus tells His disciples that all of them will fall away from Him. It says:
Peter declared, "Even if all fall away, I will not." "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown Me three times." – Mark 14:30-31
That very night Peter denied Christ three times just as Jesus said he would (Mark 14:72). We might look at this passage and wonder how in the world Peter could have forgotten the words of Christ within the same day they were spoken! But we must consider this in comparison to our own lives. Peter had a lot going on. His friend and Messiah had been arrested, those at the trial were obviously hostile towards Jesus and, in turn, His followers, and Peter was caught in the midst of all of it. He proceeded without thought as to what Jesus had said. He was so caught up in the situation and the speed with which life was happening in that moment that he acted without remembering first.
Was that the end of Peter? Was he from then on forgotten, denied, and rejected because He forgot the words of his Lord? No! Emphatically no! The book of Acts is riddled with the actions and words of Peter. In Galatians 2:8 he is called an apostle to the Jews. And let us not forget that he is credited with writing two books of the New Testament! God recognizes that we are a forgetful people. Consider this: the word "remember" is used 166 times in the New International Version. God is constantly telling His people to remember and even showing them ways in which they can remember:
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth. – Genesis 9:16
Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. – Isaiah 46:8-9
Perhaps you forgot something God commanded you to do, or not do. Maybe it was a promise God made to you. It could even be something God did in your life that you had forgotten about. Take a moment to ask God to remind you of His word to you. He is faithful to answer. And never feel that you are somehow unworthy or rejected because you forgot what the Lord spoke to you. Again, He is a faithful God, He created you, He loves you, and He still wants the absolute best for you.
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. – John 14:26
