Looking back to Go Forward

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight…In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever”... And they are there to this day (Selected portions of Joshua 4:1-9).

            God knows that we are a forgetful bunch.  A crisis comes and so we pray and ask for help.  The help comes, the crisis passes and then we sort of forget about it.  Then the next crisis comes and we act as if we have never seen God act before.  We worry and fret that he cannot help us through this huge problem, but he does… and then we sort of forget about it again.

            That is why we need some monuments in our lives that jog our memories.  We need some things that we can look back on and say, “God was at work there”.   That was the purpose of the rock monument that God had Joshua build.  They needed a reason to retell the story.  He essentially tells them, “When your children ask about that pile of rocks, tell them the story of how God took care of you”.

            I hope that you have stored up some monuments in your life that remind you that God is good.  They could be certain people (parents, grandparents, friends, ministers), experiences (mission trips, Bible schools, times at camp), places (a specific church building or a neighbourhood) or even passages of scripture that inspire you.  Whatever those things are, it is important to re-visit those monuments and re-tell their stories often.  

            I hope, too, that when 2012 ends, you will have added a few new monuments.  You see, God’s work did not end “back there”.  He is still active, near and watching over his people.  If we keep our eyes open, if we trust and are led by him, this year could be filled with new stories to tell and great things to remember.

            Remembering that “He was there” assures us that “He will be there”.