When we read the Bible sometimes, we can be star struck reading all the ways in which God intervenes in human history in direct ways. Sometimes we forget the Bible spans thousands of years. We just see how many times God moves in those people lives. Here the Israelites are finishing up the 40+ year journey of being freed from slavery in Egypt where they experienced God defeating the Egyptians with plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, God coming down in fire to give the 10 commandments, being sustained by mana in the wilderness, and now are in the middle of obtaining the land God had promised them. It was a time where God was extremely active in very visible ways.
God wanted them to set up a memorial so they would tell generations to come about what God did during this time. While God would always be active in their lives, and even show up and do miraculous things, they needed to remember what God had done for them here because it isn’t every day God leads you by a pillar of fire during the night and a pillar of cloud during the day! So, this memorial of remembrance was so important because God didn’t do this same thing ever again. Yes, he shows up over the next 1000 years, especially in person of Jesus Christ, but there were times in which Israel would be required to live on faith and not by sight of God working miracles.
This is the way it is in our lives. There are times in which we can see God moving in very active and real ways, and then there are times in which we feel like he has taken a less active role. Those times in which God does the bigger things in our lives it is imperative that we hold onto those times and remember them and tell others about them. For me, one of those times was my call into ministry. I felt God’s movement in my life in a way I have only felt a few times. It was almost as if he was speaking audibly to me, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was moving. I even revisited the place, Camp Hiawatha, to almost replay that experience again because my road into ministry was actually a very hard one. There were times in which people, even those I was close with, told me to give up and just pursue a career in something else. It was that time that I would always go back to and remember that kept my faith going that God would one day make good on my call into ministry.
So, what about you? Do you have times in which God has moved in mighty ways in your life? How do you remember them? Do you have pictures, items, or a location you can go to that helps you reignite that memory in your mind? It is so important to remember, and tell others, these times in our life because God does require us to live by faith and not by sight on this earth, and while he is always active, it is not always in ways we physically experience.
God wanted them to set up a memorial so they would tell generations to come about what God did during this time. While God would always be active in their lives, and even show up and do miraculous things, they needed to remember what God had done for them here because it isn’t every day God leads you by a pillar of fire during the night and a pillar of cloud during the day! So, this memorial of remembrance was so important because God didn’t do this same thing ever again. Yes, he shows up over the next 1000 years, especially in person of Jesus Christ, but there were times in which Israel would be required to live on faith and not by sight of God working miracles.
This is the way it is in our lives. There are times in which we can see God moving in very active and real ways, and then there are times in which we feel like he has taken a less active role. Those times in which God does the bigger things in our lives it is imperative that we hold onto those times and remember them and tell others about them. For me, one of those times was my call into ministry. I felt God’s movement in my life in a way I have only felt a few times. It was almost as if he was speaking audibly to me, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was moving. I even revisited the place, Camp Hiawatha, to almost replay that experience again because my road into ministry was actually a very hard one. There were times in which people, even those I was close with, told me to give up and just pursue a career in something else. It was that time that I would always go back to and remember that kept my faith going that God would one day make good on my call into ministry.
So, what about you? Do you have times in which God has moved in mighty ways in your life? How do you remember them? Do you have pictures, items, or a location you can go to that helps you reignite that memory in your mind? It is so important to remember, and tell others, these times in our life because God does require us to live by faith and not by sight on this earth, and while he is always active, it is not always in ways we physically experience.