Times of high emotion imprint us with our strongest memories, good or bad. I don’t know about you, but the hard times of life leave a lingering aftertaste. Perhaps it’s an unfortunate human tendency to gravitate toward the negative, and so we have to work at focusing on the positive.
Remember Old Testament stories of how God came through for His people? Whenever He delivered them, they would build an altar to commemorate that place and time.
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen–one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder–twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7, NLT)
This is just one of many examples of God’s people doing something to celebrate, honor, and remember miracles He had done.
What do I do when He comes through for me?
When light bursts into my dark valley, do I merely gasp in relief and proceed to move on with life, or do I pause to thank my Father?
I know He has answered prayers. I know He has pulled me through storms. But if someone were to ask me what God has done for me, I would have to stop and think.
What if I were to consciously celebrate those times? What if I were to play them over in my mind as my soul sang its gratitude? What if I did that daily?
It’s so important to encourage ourselves in the Lord, as David did. Life presents us with many difficult times. There’s no way to sugarcoat that. But in those rocky places, we can proclaim our Father’s faithfulness by remembering how He has delivered us in times before. We can build altars, not with stones but with thoughts. Not in religious recitation, not out of bondage. It’s taking the time to pull out those memories and smile at them again the way we smile at the knickknack on the dresser that reminds us of that wonderful vacation or the letter that reminds us of a dear friend. The edges are frayed from handling; it is a frequent gesture.
What if I made this a habit? A habit of praise–how beautiful would that be? How much peace would that bring? It would build faith and confidence like nothing else. “I know I’m facing something hard right now, but look what God did for me last time and all the times before. I was never abandoned, I never went hungry, He was always on time.”
Every time we ponder His faithfulness, it’s like adding another stone to the altar. The more we rejoice, the higher it builds, and the more naturally our thoughts will turn to this goodness again. This way of life is one of overflowing peace. I want that.
What we habitually think about affects our entire perception, which in turn determines how we experience life. I know that when I start a day mulling over the problems and negative things going on, my day will follow suit. But how wonderful would it be to enlarge our experience of God’s greatness and love? To focus on that instead, and begin to recognize it at every turn?
Let’s begin today. Let’s begin right here. If you feel comfortable doing so, please share something God has done in your life. There’s nothing so encouraging as realizing that what He did for someone else, He can do for me. For you. For any one of His beloved children. I’ll be adding a few comments of my own.
And let’s not stop here. Let’s begin to form a habit of thankfulness and praise. Let’s build altars and return to them again and again.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:3, NKJV)
Oh, girl, your posts always bring me that much closer to God. You are such a light in this dark world!
I adore this. Just completely and utterly adore. In this busy, struggling world, it's so easy to forget the blessings. And when something good /does/ happen, it's easy to be so caught up in the excitement of the thing, whatever it may be, that we totally forget to thank God for it. I know I have to remind myself a lot to thank God for all the many, many blessings He's provided.
"We can build altars, not with stones but with thoughts." THIS. What an amazing thought! Your analogy with that Bible story is so thought provoking. Our blessings would expand and be even /more/ joyful if we constantly thank God for them. And how beautiful life would be if we all put our eyes on Him and focused on the joys, not the struggles.
This post has so encouraged and inspired me. I want to practice this! These past few years have not been the easiest, but God has blessed us SO much and always takes care of us. That's what I want to focus on, not the hardships. I want a pile of "stones" to remember the blessings every day.
You asked us to share something God has done. Let's see… So much! But since I came home from work a little bit ago, I'll go with that one. My job at the bookstore has been one of the greatest (and most unexpected) blessings I've ever received, in ways I honestly can't even begin to explain. It's helped so much in this time of waiting where I really don't know what to do with my life but ready to become independent. And the hours and work is perfect with my life and health issues. It's just…perfect. But it's also helped my whole family in multiple ways. And God just dropped it in my lap out of nowhere! I can't be grateful enough.
(P.S. I love your new profile pic. YOU'RE SO PRETTY. <3)
CAN I JUST HUG YOU? Hearing that is such a blessing.
You're right, it's so easy to forget in the fast pace of life. Thankfulness just doesn't seem to be our human nature–though it most definitely can be developed as a habit. I was just thinking this morning of the Israelites. Even though they built altars and made a point to celebrate the victories God gave them, look how often they forgot. Now we have the Holy Spirit to help us, thank goodness. 🙂
YES. That's how I want to live, always celebrating the beauty God brings into my life. (Easier said than done, but perhaps not really has difficult as I tell myself?) It's been that way for me too: the last few years have brought some struggles, but there has also been so many blessings. ^_^
Oh Christine, I still love hearing about that so much! It makes me smile every time I think of how perfectly that job situation turned out for you. And at such a perfect time, too! Isn't God awesome? He put you in the right place at the right time, and gave you a job you love. Wow.
P.S. Aww, thanks! *blushes* <3
Oh wow. This was beautiful. And so true! Oh my goodness, you are SUCH gifted writer. Just… I have no words.
As for things God has done in my life? They're many. All the way from keeping my family safe on our many moves, to protecting my younger sister when she got lost at the Grand Canyon and helping us find her again. That doesn't seem big, but it is. Lots of things can go wrong when you're on moves — car crashes and the like. And things could've gone wrong at the Grand Canyon, too — my sister could have wandered somewhere off the path and fallen.
Again, wonderful post, and you write BEAUTIFULLY. 🙂
Oh, and like Christine said, I love you're new profile pic! You're so beautiful. 🙂
You're so kind, Emily–thank you! <3
Sometimes those little things stick out to us even more than the big things. And they're no less important for being on a 'smaller' scale! Protection is definitely something to praise God for. (Love that story about finding your younger sister at the Grand Canyon.) That reminds me of last summer, when my brother took a spill in some mild rapids we were tubing down. He could very easily have hit his head on the rocks, but he was kept safe.
You're so encouraging, I hardly know what to say in response. ^_^ Thank you!!
This was a wonderful post Tracey, you have such a way with words! I absolutely love it :).
God has done so many amazing things in my life! Though this specific instance wasn't very big, I remember when our house had a power out and my sister (Skylar) told us all to pray that it would turn back on by 2:00, otherwise her piano+violin teacher wouldn't come over. As requested, we prayed, and everything turned back on two minutes before 2 o' clock :D. That was so fun!
And (like everyone else said) your profile picture is awesome, I love it! You're very pretty :).
Thank you, Savannah–I'm glad it touched you!
That's so awesome! I just have to laugh in delight when those sorts of things happen. I'm convinced God has a sense of humor, and He loves doing those little gestures to remind us He loves and cares for us.
D'aww, thank you, sweet girl! 🙂
I love these type of post, it's so easy to forget to thank God for the things he does for us. He has done a lot for my family this year, but specifically he has kept my parents from separating, which means more to me than anything.
(I do too–there's so many wonderful bloggers whose posts have encouraged me over the years!)
THAT is awesome, Skye. Wow… I don't even have words. Family is so huge, and the fact that God kept yours together is well worth celebrating! <333
It's sometimes hard to remember what God has done in the midst of troubles. I have some little praises. I wanted to grill some chicken for dinner last night but the forecast was rain, but the rain didn't come until after I finished. I also got some new artwork from MegaCon and I wanted to frame it and my mom's work happened to be throwing out some frames that fit perfectly. I thought they were nice little gifts from God.
storitorigrace.blogspot.com
We forget so easily, don't we? Those are awesome stories! I love how God pays attention to the little details of our lives too, and that they actually MATTER to Him. ^_^ He has such a cool way of lining things up to bless us.
BEAUTIMOUS, Tracey!!!! I do find myself sometimes focusing on the bad instead of the good. Not fun. BUT YES God has done sooo much for us, and He still will, and He still does!!
Last year, I was having a bake-sale to raise money for Bibles to send to international places. I received $100 from an anonymous donor!! I will never forget it. God does work in such awesome ways!!!
-Ariel
Thank you, Ariel! It's so easy to focus on the negative. I myself need the reminder of this post every day, which is why I wrote it.
Aww, that's so neat! Not only that you were raising money to send Bibles internationally, but that God used that donor to bless you–and to bless those who received the Bibles. 😀
(By the way, I do believe this might be the first time I've seen you hereabouts. Welcome!)
You're welcome, Tracey!
Ooh, no, this is not the first time I have been here. I actually went waaaaaay back on your blog when I found it (courtesy of Savannah. ;)) I just didn't comment.
But I saw this post, and I saw that we could comment the special stories God has written in our lives, and I was like, "Oh my goodness, I could comment about Project Bible!" And so I did! =)
WOW, that got long. =D
-Ariel
^_^
Well, consider it a very late welcome, then! It's so sweet how and Savannah are both reading it. 🙂
That's awesome, and thank you again for sharing that story!
I love long comments, so don't ever be worried about making them too long! 😀
I said I was going to mention some of my own stories, so here's one of them.
I've already mentioned my newly-bought car, but I have to emphasize again how *timely* it all was. My dad and I were on the lookout for a number of months already, knowing that I needed a car before my brother graduated high school. We found one a few months ago, but didn't feel quite right about it due to costly repairs and whatnot offsetting the good price. SO. We decided to pass and keep waiting for a better car–not knowing if there WOULD be a better one.
But there was. Everything lined up perfectly throughout the whole process of getting it, and it was just in time, because now my brother has access to the vehicle I used before. God is never late! I know sometimes we look at our situation and wonder where He is, but He often works behind the scenes, and when the time is right, we get to see what amazing work He's done.
My sister (Skylar) found out that one LOTR quote works very well to describe God, if you tweak it some …
'God's plan is never late. Nor is it earlier. Everything works out precisely how He means it to.' 🙂
I love that! I think I need a poster of it now. XD
This is a wonderful post, Tracey!
Sometimes I am too easily pessimistic. But I'm coming to know that, above all, God is good and in control- no matter what. So remembering praise is an excellent practice.
-Safety is a big thing. I have several little stories where things could have gone terribly wrong, but they didn't.
– The little things at my work count. just seeing a favourite plant, glimpsing a hummingbird in the hanging baskets, a cool breeze just when it's needed.
– Also, having someone come home safely.
Our God is a great God
Thank you, Blue!
Praise does something profound to us–it reminds us of God's goodness in a way that nothing else does. I guess that's why praise songs are so relaxing and uplifting.
Oh, me too! Protection is such a big thing to be thankful for. And I love those little reminders of His love, those tiny gestures or things in nature that bring us delight. I like to think of those as God romancing us. It's truly beautiful! There have been a number of times when I'm driving home from work, and the breathtaking sunset is like a breath of fresh air after a long day. Always makes me smile. 🙂
Another thing I thank God for is the many times our property or garden has been protected. Times when wind or hail has damaged other people's crops, but ours is untouched. Times when neighbors' vehicles have been broken into on either side of my place, but ours are fine. Just last year, our neighbors had to replace their shingles because of hail, but our roof doesn't need any repairs. Little things like that are great reminders that God is looking out for His kids. 🙂
This is something I've been thinking about a bit recently! I've been reading Psalms, and it's easy to nod along but do I actually thank God as the psalmists did? Great post, Tracey. I've been realising more and more that I need always to look to God and what he's done for me, rather than obsessing over my own emotions/whatever.
I find myself returning to the Psalms probably more than any other book. 🙂 That's a good question to ask ourselves… For me personally, I find that journaling is one of my most fulfilling ways to thank God.
Easier said than done, right?? Our emotions and stuff seem so consuming in our minds until we put them in perspective and realize how faithful and powerful God is. ^_^