Stones of Remembrance
What is the legacy you want to leave behind? When you look back on your life, will your ministry efforts be missed?
Joshua 4:4-7 says, “4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
After the people of Israel crossed the Jordan River, God commanded Joshua to tell the people to take stones and build a memorial. This memorial would symbolize God's work, and future generations would see how God was at work in the lives of His people. Future generations would see that God was faithful and delivered on His promises to protect His people.
When has God been faithful to you? By placing the stones, the Israelites would have commemorated God's faithfulness to them. We must have reminders of when God has been faithful, because when seasons of doubt and discouragement come, we can look back and remember the times when God delivered. They serve as a reminder that while the storm winds blow, the One who controls the winds never fails you. Having a stone of remembrance keeps our focus on God because those stones represent His power and protection. They represent the security of God’s goodness and His lovingkindness.
What is your stone of remembrance?
Think about that moment or those moments when you felt closest to God. Think about that peaceful feeling in your soul. Not a happy feeling, but a joyful one that can only be explained by the presence of God. There are moments to remember when you received an answer to prayer. One way to remember God’s faithfulness is the moment you realize that receiving a no meant that God had something better for you. A stone of remembrance can be when a lesson from the Bible came at a moment you needed it.
Some may see your stones as rubble, while others may see them as monuments to behold. Some may think your stories of God’s goodness are useless, while others may be encouraged by the work God is doing in you. Your stones of remembrance are an opportunity to tell your story and share how God has been faithful to you.
You will have many stones.
It’s good to have more than one stone of remembrance because they keep you humble. They show you that it is only by God’s grace that you have made it to where you are today. At times, God has proven Himself faithful. Look back at those markers with thankfulness and hope that God will never abandon you.
When you look back on your life and leave your legacy, hopefully, your legacy will be one to remember. Hopefully, those stones in your life represent God’s goodness in your life. Perhaps those stones will turn into a lifelong testimony of God’s faithfulness.