[04ctd]

GodÔÇÖs Faithfulness: Stones and Stories

By Melody Wright

ÔÇ£He said to the sons of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, 'What are these stones?' then you shall inform your children, saying, "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.' ...that all the peoples of earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, so that you may fear the Lord your God forever." Joshua 4:21, 22, 24 NASB

We've all ÔÇÿbeen thereÔÇÖ in our lives and in our businesses. Disheartened, forgotten, grieved, betrayed, wiped out by a natural occurrence or by manÔÇÖs inhumanity to man. Sometimes, itÔÇÖs a thousand little things between work life and home life that finally bring us to a place of exhaustion and overwhelm.

In parallel, many of us have traveled through trial, and have seen the hand of a faithful God in the midst of it all. We see clearly how He got us through ÔÇô most of the time in spite of ourselves. Even better - many of us have stories of God turning a mess into nothing short of a miracle.


God knew if the Israelites had no physical remembrance to remind them of His faithfulness, they would soon forget when they came upon a new trial. But He used something as simple and common as a stone to prepare them for the future.

Remembering GodÔÇÖs faithfulness in our lives gives us confidence when we (again and again) face-off against another trial or challenge. Though we canÔÇÖt see the ÔÇÿhow,ÔÇÖ we learn to trust and know HeÔÇÖll turn it all to His glory. I believe that unwavering faith is connected to our ability to remember GodÔÇÖs past provision.

It is important that we remember and share our stories! In fact, we would be wise to heed GodÔÇÖs advice to the Israelites and be intentional about it. Then, whatever we are faced with, we can go back to those 'stones and stories' marking GodÔÇÖs faithfulness, and allow God to use them not only for our encouragement, but for the encouragement of others.