✦ June 6th
Eighty-two years ago today, the boats opened at this beach. Young men stepped into the water and walked toward the guns. Many did not rise from this sand. And today — on the anniversary, on the very ground — a pilgrim opens James Smith and reads: you shall not be forgotten.
The soldiers are not forgotten. The sacrifice is not forgotten. And God says to the soul who stands where they fell: neither are you. 🙏
What tenderness, mercy, and love are here! Friends forget us, relatives are careless about us, and we sometimes fear our God has forgotten us.
But here He assures us that we shall never be forgotten by Him. Our names are in His book. Our Representative is always before His throne. And we are the objects of His constant care.
This is a precious scripture, because so many times we feel forgotten — or we want to know things out of God's timeline. 🙏
Smith names the three sources of the feeling of being forgotten: friends forget, relatives grow careless, and the soul fears God has forgotten too. The feeling is universal. The truth is the opposite. Our names are in His book — written, recorded, permanent. Our Representative is before His throne — Christ interceding, always, without ceasing. And we are the objects of His constant care — not occasional attention, constant care.
And Le adds the insight that turns Smith's comfort into a mirror: we want to know things out of God's timeline. The apartment is sold. The doors are not yet open. France is ahead but the details are not yet visible. And the soul that is walking by faith wants to see around the corner — wants to know what God has not yet revealed. The feeling of being forgotten is often the impatience of wanting to know what God has not yet chosen to show. He has not forgotten. He is working on His timeline, not ours.
He cannot forget us while Jesus pleads for us; and if He does not forget, He will never neglect.
There is only one thing He is ever said to forget — and that is our sins.
But He is always mindful of His covenant. He will not forget the circumstances in which we are placed, the needs by which we are pained, or the prayers we put up at His throne.
The truth is that we were never abandoned by God. 🙏
Smith makes the most beautiful distinction in tonight's reading: God forgets only one thing — our sins. Everything else He remembers. The covenant — remembered. The circumstances — remembered. The needs that cause pain — remembered. The prayers — remembered. Only the sins are forgotten. Cast as far as the east is from the west. Thrown into the depths of the sea. Blotted out. Gone.
The God who remembers everything chooses to forget the one thing the soul most fears He will remember. And the one thing the soul fears He will forget — herself — He never does.
And Le names the settled truth — the conviction that is permanent: we were never abandoned by God. Not once. Not at midnight in Lubbock. Not in the uprootings. Not when the apartment sold. Not when the doors have not yet opened. Not on Sword Beach. Never.
"There is only one thing He is ever said to forget — and that is our sins."
James Smith · Daily Remembrancer · He forgets what we fear He'll remember — and remembers what we fear He'll forgetThough we are assured our God will never forget us, yet we can find no satisfaction except as the Holy Spirit humbles us, empties us, and exalts Christ before us — showing us our pardon, peace, and salvation in His life, death, and intercession.
Beloved, let us mind the things of the Spirit, and daily seek humbling, quickening, and sanctifying grace.
Smith closes by naming the three graces that keep the soul alive: humbling, quickening, sanctifying. Humbling — the lowering of the self, Augustine's love-weight that brings down self to its just level. Quickening — the awakening of the spiritual faculties, Tozer's prayer to quicken every power within. Sanctifying — the consuming fire of MacDonald, burning until all is pure.
And the sequence matters: the Spirit humbles first, empties second, and then exalts Christ. Not exalts the self. Not exalts the experience. Not exalts the achievement. Christ. The emptying is not the goal. The exaltation of Christ is the goal. The emptying clears the room so that Christ can be seen. Pardon, peace, and salvation — all found in Him, not in us.
✦ Not Forgotten — On This Ground
James Smith wrote these words in the 1800s — for suffering, doubting souls in Cheltenham. He could not have known that one day a Portuguese American woman would read them at Sword Beach on the eighty-second anniversary of D-Day, with her apartment sold and her future in God's hands.
But the words fit. They fit because the truth is timeless. The soldiers on this beach were not forgotten — their sacrifice is remembered today, and every June 6th. The pilgrim on this beach is not forgotten — her name is in His book, her Representative is before His throne, and her circumstances are the object of His constant care.
And the only thing God has forgotten — is the debt. The 500 denari. Gone. Cast into the sea that touches this sand. 🙏
Names in His Book
Friends forget. Relatives grow careless. But God does not forget. Our names are in His book. Our Representative is before His throne. We are the objects of His constant care.
He Forgets Only Sins
The one thing God forgets — our sins. Everything else He remembers: the covenant, the circumstances, the needs, the prayers. He forgets what we fear He'll remember. He remembers what we fear He'll forget.
God's Timeline
We want to know things out of God's timeline. The apartment sold but the doors not yet open. The feeling of being forgotten is often the impatience of wanting to see around the corner. He has not forgotten. He is working.
Christ Exalted
The Spirit humbles, empties, and exalts Christ. Not the self. Not the experience. Christ. Pardon, peace, and salvation — all found in Him. The emptying clears the room. Christ fills it.