Remembering what God has Done
This is an excerpt from the Remember and Rest journal
And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” Joshua 4:21-24 ESV
Their sandals pounded on the dry, hard ground of a river the Lord had stopped in a moment. Divine deliverance. Again, and again, and again God delivers His people. He makes a way. God doesn’t just deliver them, no; God does something else. God gives them a tangible way to remember His faithfulness. They gathered stones from the bottom of that dried up river. Stones that would be set up as a memorial, something to remind them of what God did for them that day. Not only is this collection of stones for their personal memory, but for the memory of future generations and all who see it. These stones would be an opportunity to teach new generations about the faithfulness of God. These stones would stir up renewed faith and trust when the people gazed upon them. When the people were afraid or doubtful it would be a tangible reminder to recall the Lord’s faithfulness, to remember what He had done. Remembering leads us to action; it leads us to trust and worship. We have the opportunity to gather our own stones. We should have our own tangible reminders of the Lord’s faithfulness so that when doubt or anxiety creep in we can look back on all our stones, our own personal stories of God’s faithfulness, and be encouraged to respond to Him with trust and worship.
Other verses to study: Deuteronomy 4:9-24, Deuteronomy 6:20-23, Deuteronomy 8:1-2, Lamentations 3:21-24, Psalm 77:11-12, Psalm 103:1-2, Luke 22:14-23
Ways to respond: How can you create tangible “stones of remembrance” for yourself? Think of how you can start tangibly remembering what God has done. Use the following blank pages to get started! (Record moments in a notebook, keep a list in your bible, etc.)
