In 2008, my dad was diagnosed with cancer. It was not a very aggressive form of cancer, but hearing that someone I loved had the dreaded ‘c word’ was hard. Until that point, I had not been close to anyone with cancer, so I was fearful and uncertain of what would happen to my dad. All I knew to do was pray and ask others to pray that my dad would be ok. I prayed, “For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord” (Psalm 112:6-7). By God’s grace, my dad was able to have the cancer removed and with minimal treatments, was in good health again, cancer free. After he was cleared, I marked in my Bible next to Psalm 112:6-7, “9/19/08, Dad’s cancer is healed,” with a little picture of stones stacked in a pyramid. I wanted to make a visual memorial of what God had done. I knew that if I didn’t, over time I would forget the date, forget the details, forget the prayers I prayed, and forget how God showed his faithful love to me through that difficult time. Almost 20 years later I can open my Bible and worship God through remembering! Just as God’s people in the Old Testament frequently built physical memorials to remember his faithfulness, we too can create our own reminders–visual markers that tell a story, invite questions, and bring glory to God.
It is hard to remember. We are, by nature, forgetful. We have a tendency to get caught up in the moment and forget all that has led us to the present moment. In order to remember important things, things that hold value and meaning, things that shape who we are and what we believe, we need a little help.
God knows that we are forgetful people. He knows our sinful heart will quickly lead us astray through fleeting emotions. Which is why he instructs us to remember. The word remember is repeated over 1200 times throughout the Bible. Some uses are God remembering, others are God choosing not to remember the sins of his people, and still other uses are for his people to remember. The repeated call for his people to remember is the gentle voice of our Shepherd drawing us, his sheep, back to him. To remember what God has done is to know him and his character. To remember is to renew our trust in his faithful love and provision. But remembering can be hard. We are easily distracted by shiny new things, forgetting the good things God has already given. Remember the garden of Eden? Or golden calf at Mount Sinai? We are constantly being flooded with content from the world that can quickly drown out what we know is true about God. There is a daily battle being waged in our minds to keep our thoughts on what Philippians 4:8 says is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. We need help keeping important truths at the forefront of our mind so they do not get washed away in the flood of distractions. We need help remembering!
As the perfect Shepherd caring for his sheep, God in his gracious love, helps us remember. Not only has he given us the Holy Spirit as our Helper, present with us helping us know and understand God’s word, he also gives us examples of tangible ways to remember. We find many examples in scripture of specific instructions for building memorials or observing feasts such as the Passover, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
One example God gives of creating a visual reminder is found in the book of Joshua. God instructs the people, through their leader Joshua, to set up a memorial of stones:
And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” Joshua 4:5-6
The stone memorial was to be a visual reminder of how God fulfilled his promise to bring them into the land of Canaan. They took stones from the exact river God dried up for them to walk through. Those stones were to act as a trigger for people to stop and ask, what happened here? It was an opportunity to give God glory for what he had done!
A memorial is significant because it is meant to be shared with others. My little picture memorial in my Bible of my dad’s cancer being healed is a beautiful personal reminder, but if I don’t share that memory of God’s faithfulness with others I am missing an opportunity to bring God glory. The stones of remembrance set up by the Israelites were not only for personal remembrance but corporate! It was to help generation after generation know the story of what God had done for his people.
What has God done in your life that needs to be remembered and shared? How can you create your own stones of remembrance as a sign of God’s faithful love? When difficult times come and our thoughts are pulled toward doubt, fear, despair, and ultimately to forgetfulness, a visible anchor can hold us steady in the truth of God’s loving character. So whether you mark stones in your Bible, or collect actual stones, paint a picture, plant flowers, or even get a tattoo— whatever you choose, find a way to create visual reminders of God’s faithfulness in your life, and let that reminder bring you to worship and give God glory every time you see it!
