Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Remembering God's Blessings

This week, I'll establish a memorial.
God will provide for you and your ministry ... and you'll forget. Time to figure out a means of remembering!
Crisis? Sure, we can remember the crisis times. How did God solve them? How did God resolve them so quietly, so gradually, that they turned out not to seem like crises at all? How did God provide — maybe so subtly, his miracles just felt normal? Well, now, let me think a minute....

We tend to forget what God has done for us. We get to the next crisis, and we panic all over again.

People have always had this tendency. In the Old Testament, the Israelites enjoyed incredible blessings at the hand of God. But then when things were going well, they forgot; and when things went badly, they panicked — or complained.

Joshua was their leader for a while. He said Nuts to this; we’re going to learn to remember, so we can train our faith. We’re going to make a scrapbook of faith memories. In Joshua 4, when they needed to get across the Jordan River , God miraculously opened up a dry path right through the river. They got halfway across, and Joshua said, Wait a minute. You guys, work together and pick up 12 big boulders from the river bed here, and carry them out with us to the other side. They all got to the other side, the waters of the Jordan rushed back together, and Joshua said, Let’s take those 12 boulders with us.

They got to the place where they were going to set up camp — a place called Gilgal. There, he took the 12 boulders and set them up in a kind of memorial sculpture ... specifically as a memory device. A reminder of God’s provision, God’s care, God’s miracle-working power, God’s love.

We need Gilgals in our lives. We need to remember when God provides. We need to commemorate the breakthroughs. Maybe we need to make a scrapbook of God’s provision ... write up a list and put it on the fridge in the ministry office kitchen!

The Psalmist did this. He wrote a song to remember. Psalm 34:4 says, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”
Someday I will face a crisis. That’s when I’ll need to look back on the last crisis and say, Hey, remember when I thought I was never going to make it back there, then, when that happened? And look how God provided for me!

Time to head for Gilgal ... and re-read that list on the fridge.

 
Psalm 77: 7-12
Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? ...I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.


My Prayer for the Next Seven Days... Lord, don’t let me forget your miraculous provision for me and my ministry. Amen.

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