Remember that Jesus Christ . . . was raised from the dead. 2 Tim. 2:8.

Is there any likelihood that we should forget Jesus Christ? The possibility seems altogether out of the question. That sounds like a hungry man forgetting to eat, a tired man forgetting to sleep, the ship's captain forgetting his compass. Is it true that we do forget our Lord?

Many times I think that we do. Other earthly responsibilities and problems compel our attention. They come to have a power over us, many times quite out of proportion to that of our need for divine help.

"When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do" (John 6:5, 6). All that was available was a boy's lunch of five loaves and two fishes. Philip replied that they did not have the money to feed so many people. Dismiss the crowd to get bread any way they could.

Jesus told the people to sit down. Philip had not given much thought to what Jesus would or could do. The disciples had seen Jesus perform miracles before, but they had evidently forgotten about that.

Sometimes the situation recurs within our own lives. In our anxiety we cry, "I do not know what to do. I hardly know which way to turn." For us it should not matter what the problem is or how big. The question is How do we meet it? We ought to know by this time that there is no use searching for answers from within ourselves. One bit of genuine faith in God, the size of a grain of mustard seed, is worth a ton of human wisdom and effort.

But no, we become so engrossed and overcome with our difficulties that we forget Jesus Christ. When, to no avail, we have exhausted our energy and our thinking, we appeal to God. We go on until we are at the end of our rope. Then it is time to pray and call God in. Anyone who has used this human strategy will tell you how foolish it is. Human effort alone comes to nothing, exactly nothing. The issue seems clear enough. Why not count on God from the start?