Remembering and Celebrating God’s Goodness

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“And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel:  That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”      Joshua 4:5-7  King James Version

Several years ago, the Lord told me to “cultivate faith”. One valuable way for me to do so is illustrated by the passage above: find a way to remember what God has already done for me. In the above example, the Israelites used stones to help them remember; other times, God instructed them to mark occasions with feasts or festivals. He gave specific directions for the celebrations. Each of those gatherings stood for an occasion God had acted for them.

For me, I write down items. I have notebooks in various places, and I record God’s blessings in them. I carry one little notebook in my purse. While I have different sections in the notebook for meeting different purposes, the most important section is right at the beginning, where I list God’s blessings to me. I have small and large ones written down. Reading them carries me back to the situation and I have a renewed sense of gratitude for God’s care and provision for me. Remembering what God has already done helps me have faith for challenges ahead (and there’s always challenges ahead!) and helps me have a more optimistic view of the future. In the past, I tended toward despair, so being able to counteract that downward slide is important.

©P. Booher