Joshua: It’s Good to Remember

I Love the book of Joshua! I had to skip over to it this morning to get a bit of encouragement.

Joshua 4: 1-9 tells the story of the memorial stones. In short – the people had crossed
over the Jordan River – through what could have been a turbulent, dangerous, deadly
place that could have destroyed them completely. But….God came through.

He placed the priests and the ark of the covenant (which represents God himself) in the middle of
the Jordan as He pushed back the waters, holding the destructive power that would
have taken their lives so that they could walk through that situation on dry ground. The
priests didn’t stand on the side but in the middle – the deepest part of the river. The hardest part of the trial.

When they got across, God told them to pick up a stone from the middle of the river and
take it to the other side. He said they should use that stone as a memorial so they would
remember what He had done for them. The stones were to be taken from the middle of
the river, the middle of the trial, when it could have been at its worst.

That’s what He wants us to remember.

Think back to the middle of your battle.

Take time to remember when God was with you at your lowest point. Don’t forget when what could have been …. didn’t happen. The sickness that didn’t take your life, the loss of a job that didn’t bring destruction, the family conflict that didn’t destroy, and the addiction that didn’t bring ruin. The evil that could have destroyed you was held back upstream.

Look back and gain strength from remembering, gain a renewed increase in faith from remembering, and let it remind you just how faithful, powerful, and loving our God is.