Lest I Forget

This one has been on my heart for a while now. And I’ll be honest…I’ve kind of taken my time with it, for a few different reasons. I felt I needed to let this one soak for a while.

And it has soaked — a little longer than I intended it to. But I think now is the perfect time to put this little inspiration into words.

I’ve done a few different studies on parts of the Old Testament. I’ve learned about the Patriarchs, the birth of Israel, the enslavement of God’s people, and the great Exodus and deliverance from Egypt. I’ve read of the wonders the people of Israel then got to bear witness to — I mean, the parting of the Red Sea? A pillar of cloud and fire? Manna literally raining down from Heaven? God speaking from the mountain at Sinai and doing all that thunder and lightning and smoke amazingness? What the what?

And I’ve read of how they still screwed everything up, even after experiencing all of that. And it used to baffle my mind — how could you witness the wonders of God in such a real and tangible way and yet still decide that worshiping some golden calf that you just threw together with your jewelry is a good idea?

How, after God has done miracle after miracle after miracle before your very eyes, could you do anything but devote all of yourself to Him for every second of the rest of your life no matter what?

And I have found that the answer is actually pretty simple.

You forget.

You get so caught up in your present circumstances that what God just did for you a couple days ago feels like forever ago, and you forget that He can do great things for you right now just like he did for you then.

I’m really good at this one. I’m really good at getting all pumped and psyched and everything when God does something amazing in my life, and swearing that I’ll never go back to my old ways again. I’ll never stop pursuing God so fervently and relentlessly because He just did something incredible!

And then one week later I’m feeling like I’m in one of the worst slumps of my life (Aka: this past week). And you know why? It’s because I let everything going on around me distract me from the wonder of what God just did not so long ago. And when I just happened to hear several teachings over the past week or so on topics pretty similar to this — forgetting and allowing yourself to succumb to “the drift” — I felt that perhaps I should do something about that in my own life.

So I decided to write a little something up in my journal — reminders of what God has done for me and how incredible life is when I’m actively pursuing Him and not allowing myself to get distracted by everything else around me. And I would keep this on hand so that whenever I felt tempted, or whenever I felt depressed or lonely or in a slump or angry or weak, or whenever I felt “the drift” coming on, I could look at this list of reminders. I could remind myself of what God has done for me and what He promises me if I live my life for Him and pursue Him.

I could read my own personal account of what happens (and what has happened) when I live life chasing after God and obeying Him…lest I forget.

I’m not going to share all of the things I listed in my journal, but I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to share some of the ones that others might be able to relate to as well. Consider this a “cairn” of sorts  (Joshua 4:1-7) — a memorial to remind me of what God has done. And when others see it, I’ll be able to share it with them, too.

So, here stands my Cairn.

God has pulled me out of darkness so quickly and so swiftly, that the transformation is jarring. He has rescued me from darkness that I put myself in and from my own despair. He has forgiven me so easily and loves me no less for all of the wrongs I have committed against Him.

You would think that this first point alone would be enough. But God doesn’t stop there.

Because I’ve given my heart to Him, God has given me His Holy Spirit and sent it to dwell in my heart for life. And in doing so, He has given me a peace that transcends all understanding — a peace that defies odds and doesn’t make sense given the circumstances, and yet still stands strong. And this Holy Spirit has given me a hunger for God’s Word and Truth like I’ve never had before. I long for it, and what didn’t used to make sense to me before now speaks to my heart in incredibly moving and powerful ways.

And when I’m in His Word and pursuing Him, that peace reigns. Fear does not control me. Loneliness does not discourage me. Evil desire does not take hold of me. I am not anxious when I am with Him. I am at peace in His arms.

God has shown me my true identity. At the end of the day, I am a child of God. The God of the Universe, in all of His infinite wonder, magnificence, power, and unconditional love, has called me his daughter and desires an intimate relationship with me. He wants me to know Him, and he wants me to be known by Him. He wants me. He will fight for me. He will love me.

The God of all creation calls me by name, and He desires for me to call him Abba.

He has given me a purpose and a calling that He custom-designed for me. And when I focus my eyes on Him and do what He calls me to do, that sense of purpose strengthens me. He does not give me satisfaction in anything other than what He created me for. And He created me to have a relationship with Him.

I am strongest when I do what God created me and called me to do. And when I pursue Him, he will lead me to my calling.

He has entrusted me with a divine deposit — His word, His Spirit, and His message. He has called little old me to rise up and guard His deposit and to use it well. I am His steward, and I am called to be faithful with what God Almighty has entrusted to me.

When I have allowed myself to drift, God does not call me back so that I can pay to Him what is due for my mistake. No, that price was paid on the cross.

He calls me back because He desires to calm me, to forgive me, to love me, to shower me with grace, to fill me again, to heal me, to comfort me, to listen to me, to guide me, and to know me.

He wants to set me free of the chains I’ve entangled myself in. So when He calls me back, I should not fear His wrath. I should run toward Him as fast as I can.

That’s my cairn. That’s what I’ll look back on to remind myself of my God’s goodness when something is attempting to pull me away from Him. He is my anchor and I need to hold fast to him.

If you never have, I encourage you to make your own cairn. It’s always good to remind ourselves of what God has done for us personally. We are forgetful and easily distracted creatures.

And I look forward to being able to add to my list — I look forward to experiencing more miracles of God in my life so that I can make this structure bigger and bigger and bigger until it’s nearly impossible to look past or forget.

“What do these stones mean to you?”