Seasons of Forgetting

I feel so blessed throughout my 23 years to learn some very important lessons that I always swore in the moment were lessons that would stay with me for life. These lessons include, but are not limited to:

• Don't procrastinate
• Trust God
• Give people the benefit of the doubt
• Be who you are!
• You are the happiest when you turn outward and serve others
• Just because you exercised for 10 minutes this morning does not mean that you should eat that whole box of donuts

 ...But for some reason a few years, or months, or sometimes even days (hours?) later I find myself in the same situation as before, learning the same lesson I swore I would never have to learn again. 

Why would a person do that? Why is it then even though we know something is just or true do we so often set it aside? Why is it that our lives are spent cycling through the same lessons over and over and over again?

My answer?

We go through seasons of forgetting. Not that we forget that it happened, or even that we forget the principle of the lesson we learned... no, I don't think it is more than that. 

What we forget is the way we felt. We forget the pain, or the joy, or the certainty of the lesson.  Learning life lessons isn't easy, and quite often not at all pleasant. There are other times where we feel something so good and powerful we can't deny the answers we receive that we can completely trust in them..... then lives goes on and we are comfortable and things are easy and we rarely reflect on those feelings. We forget they are more than just a good story, but those lessons are a part of us. 

Is it safe to say that the same is true for society? We are humbled and remember what matters when there is a hurricane, or a terrible accident, or major act of violence. In those moments we mourn, we leave behind the things that don't matter, and we all come together in greater love and concern for one another. We vow that as a society we will change and no longer focus on so many frivolous pursuits. 

... Then of course for some reason a few years, or months, or sometimes days (hours?) later we find ourselves learning the same lesson the umpteenth time. 

This is not a new thing in society- nope, it has been happening since Adam and Eve. God has helped us to learn lessons and learn what we need to do to be happy and return to Him. He sends prophets who have His power and authority to help guide us and remind us of who we are as children of God and what things we need to beware of that will draw us from him and cause us to "forget".  When the prophets come people have been humbled enough to accept the teachings and feel the spirit of truth testify that what the Prophets say are true.They were happy for a time... and then they forget. Think of the people who watched the world be flooded when on Noah's ark. I bet after 40 days in the Ark they had it impressed upon their hearts how important it was to listen to the prophet and to repent, but then we find their descendants spiritually "drowning" in the ways of the world the same way. I'm sure after the bondage they experienced and the miracles they witnessed the Children of Israel vowed they would never forget how great and merciful God was, but then just a short time later we find them worshiping idols and rejecting the warnings of the Prophet Moses. 

God  isn't going to force His children to follow him so He will take His power from the earth until we are ready for Him to send another Prophet. This Prophet has God's power and authority on earth and receives revelation straight from God to warn us of things can harm us, and they help to keep the teachings of God pure so that we can always REMEMBER what we need to do to find lasting happiness and eternal life and how badly we need to make Jesus Christ the Center of our lives. 

When Jesus Christ came he showed us the way and example himself, but as society always does, the people rejected him and his teachings and I'm sure it was with great sadness that God withdrew his power once again.

Just as God always has, God has reached out again to us in our time to help us REMEMBER and never again forget the greatest lesson there is for us to learn here on earth. We have a Savior. He reaches out the same way he always has.

God called a Prophet.