June 2nd, 2025
Have you ever had a memory rush in when you heard the first few notes of an old song or been suddenly taken back to your childhood home by the aroma in a busy kitchen? Our memories are a powerful thing and science shows that memories with the strongest emotional significance are more easily triggered by our senses. Nostalgia is a feeling we’ve all likely experienced at one point or another. It’s typically brought on by a sentimental memory that leaves us with a sense of longing or wistfulness. You smell a certain chocolate chip cookie and suddenly remember how it felt to play in your grandma’s kitchen. We are literally designed to remember.
However, there is an interesting truth about the way our brains are wired that could keep us from all that God has for us if we don’t renew our mind by His word. Romans 12:2 says,
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
See, our memories are often accompanied by something called “rosy retrospection.” Psychologists coined this term to describe the way our brains tend to recall the past more positively than it was actually experienced, especially when faced with uncertainty. This is basically the idea that we look back through rose-colored glasses. Negative memories are scientifically proven to fade faster than positive ones. It’s a cognitive bias – a way your brain works to make your memories more enjoyable. I believe this is intended to be a gift and it sounds good, so how could it keep us from what God has for us?
Accompanied with the reality of an unknown future, this rosy retrospection can be a dangerous thing. There was an experiment done in which the participants were hooked up to electrodes that delivered a painful but harmless shock, while the researchers measured stress responses. In some cases, there was a 25% or 50% chance they would receive a shock (randomly) and in others they knew with 100% certainty they would receive a shock. In every study, stress was increased by the unpredictability, not the shock. In theory, they should be more stressed knowing they would be shocked rather than knowing there was only a 25% chance of being shocked, but in every case, there was more stress when they did not know the outcome.
Another study was done in which the participants had a chance to win money. It was random, but the participants were given the choice to know the result immediately or wait a short period to find out. The immediate knowledge came with less chance of winning and a smaller prize. Even though waiting was obviously the more rational option (higher chance of winning more money), less than 40% of the participants chose to wait in every single group.
Now think about those two things together: the brain’s ability to look at the past through rose-colored glasses and mankind’s general aversion to uncertainty. We see this multiple times in the word of God, and I think the best example is found when God brought the Israelite people out of Egyptian slavery. They were delivered from oppression miraculously by signs and wonders and God promised to care for them and lead them into the promised land. However, look at these responses as soon as they faced what seemed to be uncertain.
When they faced the Red Sea:
‘They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ (Exodus 14:11-13)
When they became thirsty:
‘The people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”’ (Exodus 15:24)
When they became hungry:
‘In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”’ (Exodus 16:2-3)
When they grew tired of the manna God miraculously fed them with every day:
‘The rabble began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”’ (Numbers 11:4-6)
Finally, when they arrived at the land of promise:
‘All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”’ (Numbers 14:2-4)
God brought them out with a mighty hand – miraculously, compassionately – but they allowed their fear of the unknown to eclipse the reality of their prior suffering. It’s easy to shake our heads at the Israelites. How could they not trust Him after all He’d done for them? However, I would guess we’ve all done this at one point or another. It’s easy to look forward into the unknown and prefer a past that is known. However, there is nothing more crippling to a child of God. Lot’s wife turned back to gaze at Sodom, and it cost her life. What laid ahead was much better than what was behind, but her longing for the past cost her future. We are made to remember—it’s a gift from the Lord— but we must ensure our minds are renewed by His Word, so our memories are not clouded by fear of the unknown. We must ensure we don’t allow ourselves to live in the past and miss the future!
Isaiah 43:19 says,
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Philippians 3:13-14 says,
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
We want to encourage you this week to remember God’s goodness in your past. Remember His faithfulness. Remember the promises of His Word. However, understand His word says the path of the righteous is like the morning sun, rising higher and higher (Proverbs 4:18). His plans for your future are better than what lies behind you. What is unknown to you is known to Him (Jeremiah 29:11). Especially in the face of uncertainty, we can confidently stand on His promises and run forward into the plan of God! Let your mind be renewed by the truth of His Word today. We are not slaves to our minds or our memories. We are made new in Him and He came that we would have abundant life (John 10:10). It’s time for us to run fearlessly into the future, trusting the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!
However, there is an interesting truth about the way our brains are wired that could keep us from all that God has for us if we don’t renew our mind by His word. Romans 12:2 says,
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
See, our memories are often accompanied by something called “rosy retrospection.” Psychologists coined this term to describe the way our brains tend to recall the past more positively than it was actually experienced, especially when faced with uncertainty. This is basically the idea that we look back through rose-colored glasses. Negative memories are scientifically proven to fade faster than positive ones. It’s a cognitive bias – a way your brain works to make your memories more enjoyable. I believe this is intended to be a gift and it sounds good, so how could it keep us from what God has for us?
Accompanied with the reality of an unknown future, this rosy retrospection can be a dangerous thing. There was an experiment done in which the participants were hooked up to electrodes that delivered a painful but harmless shock, while the researchers measured stress responses. In some cases, there was a 25% or 50% chance they would receive a shock (randomly) and in others they knew with 100% certainty they would receive a shock. In every study, stress was increased by the unpredictability, not the shock. In theory, they should be more stressed knowing they would be shocked rather than knowing there was only a 25% chance of being shocked, but in every case, there was more stress when they did not know the outcome.
Another study was done in which the participants had a chance to win money. It was random, but the participants were given the choice to know the result immediately or wait a short period to find out. The immediate knowledge came with less chance of winning and a smaller prize. Even though waiting was obviously the more rational option (higher chance of winning more money), less than 40% of the participants chose to wait in every single group.
Now think about those two things together: the brain’s ability to look at the past through rose-colored glasses and mankind’s general aversion to uncertainty. We see this multiple times in the word of God, and I think the best example is found when God brought the Israelite people out of Egyptian slavery. They were delivered from oppression miraculously by signs and wonders and God promised to care for them and lead them into the promised land. However, look at these responses as soon as they faced what seemed to be uncertain.
When they faced the Red Sea:
‘They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’ (Exodus 14:11-13)
When they became thirsty:
‘The people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”’ (Exodus 15:24)
When they became hungry:
‘In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”’ (Exodus 16:2-3)
When they grew tired of the manna God miraculously fed them with every day:
‘The rabble began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”’ (Numbers 11:4-6)
Finally, when they arrived at the land of promise:
‘All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”’ (Numbers 14:2-4)
God brought them out with a mighty hand – miraculously, compassionately – but they allowed their fear of the unknown to eclipse the reality of their prior suffering. It’s easy to shake our heads at the Israelites. How could they not trust Him after all He’d done for them? However, I would guess we’ve all done this at one point or another. It’s easy to look forward into the unknown and prefer a past that is known. However, there is nothing more crippling to a child of God. Lot’s wife turned back to gaze at Sodom, and it cost her life. What laid ahead was much better than what was behind, but her longing for the past cost her future. We are made to remember—it’s a gift from the Lord— but we must ensure our minds are renewed by His Word, so our memories are not clouded by fear of the unknown. We must ensure we don’t allow ourselves to live in the past and miss the future!
Isaiah 43:19 says,
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”
Philippians 3:13-14 says,
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
We want to encourage you this week to remember God’s goodness in your past. Remember His faithfulness. Remember the promises of His Word. However, understand His word says the path of the righteous is like the morning sun, rising higher and higher (Proverbs 4:18). His plans for your future are better than what lies behind you. What is unknown to you is known to Him (Jeremiah 29:11). Especially in the face of uncertainty, we can confidently stand on His promises and run forward into the plan of God! Let your mind be renewed by the truth of His Word today. We are not slaves to our minds or our memories. We are made new in Him and He came that we would have abundant life (John 10:10). It’s time for us to run fearlessly into the future, trusting the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)!
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