Remembering

Dear Friends,

This past Sunday our church celebrated our ten year anniversary. We had a wonderful celebration service – listening to testimonies, watching videos of the life of things the church has experienced these past years, and taking time to remember all that God has done for us in the last decade. As I was preparing for the celebration, God reminded me of Psalm 105:1-5, which says, “Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done. Sing to Him; yes, sing His praises. Tell everyone about His wonderful deeds. Exult in His holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for His strength; continually seek Him. Remember the wonders He has performed, His miracles, and the rulings He has given.”

I love this passage because it tells us that there is power in taking time to remember - especially when it's remembering all that God has done for us. Remembering is so powerful because, as we recount all that God's done for us in the past, it encourages us that He will care for us in the future. But even more than that, it also reminds us that God has a plan, and He never abandons His plans or His promises. And while we may know these things on an intellectual level, the truth is we often forget them on an emotional level when we're facing challenging times. Which is why remembering the truth about who God is and how He deals with us will build our strength for moving forward.

So even when life is tough and things don’t seem to make sense to us, we need to remember God's faithfulness to us in the past, and then rest assured that He is in control and is working out His plan in the present - and for the future. We have to believe that God has our best interest at heart. Then we need to let that knowledge encourage and strengthen us, and motivate us to live for Him when it’s easy to see Him at work, and also when it’s difficult.

So today, let's take time to remember. Let's remember all that God has done for us. And then out of that remembering, let's ask Him to build our faith that He will continue to do great and wonderful things for us in the present, and the future.

Amen?

Daniel