Remembering What God Has Done
The children of Israel once again crossed through waters God parted as the Jordan River opened before them. As soon as all had safely passed, the waters of the Jordan returned to flood stage.
Joshua had commanded one man from each of the twelve tribes to take a stone from the riverbed and bring it with him as he came out of the water.
They carried the stones to Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho, where Joshua erected the stones in a memorial.
He told the Israelites to teach their descendants that this pile of ordinary river stones symbolized God’s faithfulness as the people had crossed the Jordan, just as he had demonstrated his faithfulness when they had crossed the Red Sea.
Why is it important to preserve a record of God’s dealings with us? I think we need reminders of the unchanging faithfulness of God as we live in a world that is ever-changing.
As we read the Bible it reminds us of just how omnipotent God is. His hand stretches back through all of history and forward into all of the future.
But sometimes we forget. Or our stories of God’s faithfulness lose their focus as one generation retells them to the next.
When we go through long periods of time when God seems distant, doubts can disrupt our faith, and we may wonder how we felt when God’s power was evident.
Just as the twelve stones from the river Jordan aided the Israelites’ memories, the memorials we make enliven our memories.
One of the ways that I am trying to preserve family memories that are laced with touches from God’s hand is to make creative photo albums.
I am not a “crafty” person, but I have found great fulfillment in turning a collection of photos into a storybook that not only displays pictures but records what is happening during family times together.
I am hopeful that generations from now my descendants will look through these books and see the evidence of a family who loved God and lived in ways that acknowledged his presence in their lives.
Memorials can be journals or collections of writings or artwork— any number of things that express the reality of the presence of God in the life of an individual or family.
Whatever they are, they can be like the twelve smooth stones from the Jordan that bring us back to a time of experiencing the power of God in our lives.
Father, thank you for the ways that memories of your working in our lives can encourage us in the present moment. Help us to preserve them for future generations.