Why remembering the good times can strengthen our faith when life feels hard

Recently, my grown-up daughter came home to live with us for a short time and asked if there was anything she could do to help while she was there. She’s very tech-minded, and I had one job that I knew I wanted to do. I said, ‘I’ve got a huge box of old photos and videos in the loft, and I’ve got no idea how to put them into digital form.’

She made it her mission to get this done. She found someone locally who could capture all those old family films and photos and make them all accessible from my laptop. Suddenly, there was a whole history of our family life, and it was at my fingertips! We had a wonderful time going through all the old snapshots from pre-digital cameras, showing the children when they were growing up: birthdays, holidays and ordinary days as well. Memories came flooding back of times we’d completely forgotten – places we’d been to and conversations we’d had.

There was one special film where the two eldest children were interviewing the next two in age, asking them what they wanted to be when they were older, how they saw themselves and what they wanted to do. 

There was one special film where the two eldest children were interviewing the next two in age, asking them what they wanted to be when they were older, how they saw themselves and what they wanted to do. We sat and watched, and laughed, and remembered all sorts of amazing things. We realised that, for some reason, we find it easy to recall the disasters or the hard times, but tend to forget the happy, contented, ordinary times that were the fabric of our everyday family life.

There was a period in my life when things were very hard. I felt as though I was in a deep pit, and no matter how hard I worked and tried and prayed, I couldn’t see a way through. It was a dark time. I made a collage of photographs, pictures of the family in happier times, and I pinned it up on the wall. I remember standing at the sink, doing the washing up, crying and struggling with my feelings. I’d look at the pictures and remember brighter days, and say to myself, ‘This too will pass. I will be in that happy place again one day.’ And by the grace of God, it did pass, and I emerged stronger and wiser.

Those memories gave me a kind of strength. They reminded me of all the good things God had already done in my life: the blessings, the happiness, the fulfilment of so many of my dearest hopes and dreams. They gave me a light to shine on the place where I was, and a new resolve to trust God.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1–5)

I don’t know what you’re going through today, and I don’t know your family circumstances, but I do know that along your journey there will have been times when you have smiled and had fun.

I don’t know what you’re going through today, and I don’t know your family circumstances, but I do know that along your journey there will have been times when you have smiled and had fun. Sometimes looking back and remembering can teach us what we need to do differently. It can remind us of better times and pull us back to what is important to us as a family, as an individual and as a person who places their faith in Jesus.

There’s another side to this kind of remembering. When we remember God’s blessings, it reminds us that God remembers us, too. At the darkest moment on the cross, the criminal beside Jesus cried out, ‘Lord, remember me.’ Sometimes that’s all we can do – shout out to heaven and say, ‘Jesus, remember me in this dark time. Remember me as I’m washing up and life feels hard. Remember me and help me to trust in you.’

Because although we sometimes forget about the good times, and ‘all his benefits’ (v. 2), we know that he never, ever forgets us, and that’s a huge comfort. Our names are written on the palm of his hand; he created us and, amazing though it seems, he knows each one of us and cares about our everyday experiences. Those old photos and films are a record of his goodness, of the times when we have been crowned ‘with love and compassion’, when he has satisfied our desires with good things … and a promise that those times will come again.

It’s not sentimental to remember the past. Sometimes it can be our greatest strength, and a light in dark places, reminding us of all God has done, and of all his promises for the future. ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ (Jeremiah 29:11)