It's easy to forget. It takes a decision to remember

Forgetfulness. One of my issues in life. But I guess its mostly the issue of a lot people too because there's so many complaints in our world today. Ask anyone what they had for breakfast 3 days ago and they would stutter and mumble. Ask any husband or, in certain cases, some wives if they have forgotten their anniversary at least once and you'll sure get more yeses than noes. Ask any kid if they remembered the toy you got them a day ago in the heat of their asking for a new toy and they'll for sure tell you a stubborn (with tantrums) no. But the funniest thing of all is that, when it's about remembering something wonderful or miraculous, our memory most often fails us, but if it's about something nasty or hurtful, we make dead sure that we keep tabs on it in our memory banks as proven by one of the most famous phrases we say, "I forgive, but I never forget".

Why is that? why is it in our nature to try to remember the bad more than the good? One of the best examples of this is Simon Peter, one of Jesus' disciples as stated in the following verses:

Mark 11: 12-14 & 20-25

¹² The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

²⁰ In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

 ²² “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. ²³ “Truly^[f] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” 

This occurred after Jesus already performed so many miracles of healing and also the the feeding of five thousand, but what makes me wonder is Peter's astonishment at the fig tree wilting after Jesus cursed it. Its amazing to me that after being the first hand witness to more awesome miracles, the wilting of the fig tree still surprised Peter. Is it because in this situation, Jesus didn't bless but cursed something? Is Peter scared that Jesus, who he may have associated with someone who is an epitome of blessing, can get angry to the point of cursing the fig tree to never bear fruit again? Was it easier for Peter to believe Jesus out of his fear of Him as oppose to out of his faith in Him? (this situation that happened was also in lieu of Jesus getting so angry while at the temple that caused him to "overturn the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts" because these people had made the temple a marketplace [Mark 11: 15-16]) 

I, too, was like Peter. I was the type who readily forgets the miraculous blessings of Jesus, but often remembered the not-so-good things that happened to me with the unspoken blame towards Jesus, questioning why He allowed them in the first place. I was the type who became a Christian because I feared Jesus, not out of reverence, but feared the consequences He can readily bestow on me for sinning. I was the type who believed that Jesus loves me if I can do things in His name. The type who has a relationship with God defined by my ministry. The type who forgot that I am "spoken for" because of grace and not my finite good works. That's why I forget... I questioned... I doubted. It's because I didn't really believe. It's because I really didn't have faith.

As I said, it's easy to forget the grace God gives us. After all, we're humans! Finite, instant-loving, stubborn humans! That's why it takes effort to believe... a constant decision to have faith. And as Jesus put it, it's a matter of the heart. If we believe and have no doubt nor unforgiveness in our hearts, we can we have a faith that can move mountains. But it is a choice to believe and to remember God's sovereignty because if we lose sight of Him, it's very easy to be derailed and to focus our attention on blaming God as oppose to thanking Him, which is really what we should only be doing