Today I want to talk to you about what to remember. In my next blog, we will discuss what not to remember but let's talk about what we should remember.
I have read the bible many times and one of my goals for every year is to read the bible from cover to cover. There are many things that I don't completely understand about the bible but one thing I do love is that God shows me more and more about him every time I read it.
So today, I want to tell you about something that confused me for years. I would love to tell you that I am one of those guys who doesn't need to be told anything twice, that I retain it all the first time through but that isn't the case. However, most of the time if you tell me a story, I will remember the whole thing. Sometimes not in great detail but I generally remember most of it.
Well, the Bible repeats the story of God delivering Israel from Egypt several times. As a matter of fact in the Psalms, David references it multiple times. Moses even made the children of Israel learn songs about it. I know that God wanted the Israelites to teach this to their children and I thought for a long time it was just a history lesson. I thought that God wanted generation after generation of Israelites to know about him and that's certainly true. But why did he repeat this story so many times in the Bible. Was it because He knew many of us wouldn't read our Bible and He just hoped that if we opened it a few times we would stumble onto the truth? Nope, God doesn't work this way.
Now I can't tell you that this is the only reason that God put that story in the Bible so many times but I can tell you one reason that it shows up over and over and over. See, when David was retelling this story over and over, I locked onto one reason. He said that he was stirring himself up by telling this story. When David got in a hard place and it looked hopeless, he would start thinking about all the times that God delivered him in the past and it would increase his faith. That is one reason God tells this story so many times. He wants us to stir up our faith in him. When we see places where it looks like everything is hopeless, we can go back and say, "Wait a minute. When I was in a situation that looked hopeless before, God delivered me." I can tell you that there have been many circumstances in my life when I didn't see a way out.
That feeling of anxiety and hopelessness sucks. I don't like it. But I can tell you that if I start looking back at all the times that God has delivered me in the past, I start thinking about the time when I needed gas for my car and God provided it, I start thinking about the time when I needed extra money and a check for a few hundred dollars showed up in my mailbox, I start thinking about the time when it looked like my business might fall apart and God supernaturally changed things in my favor, I start thinking about the time when I felt lonely and God brought someone into my life, I start thinking about when I didn't know what to do with my children and God showed me the way. It's happened again. I've blogged myself happy. When I think about His goodness and what He's done for me, I get happy. But guess what, there are still situations in my life where I don't know what to do, I sit back and remember all the times that God has brought me through before and those feelings of helplessness and anxiety go away because I know He will do it again.
So I want to encourage you. If you are facing a situation that you don't know what to do with, start remembering all the times that the Lord delivered you or made a way where there didn't seem to be a way. Start thinking about how He was always there when you called out. It will make the situation you face now grow smaller as His provision grows larger in your life.
Now some of you may not have many places to draw on for those types of memories. Don't worry, read. The Bible is full of places where God delivered people. Start reading those and mediating on those. He promised that if He did it for someone in the Bible, He will do it for you. Test God. Remind Him of His word and what He promised. That's not arrogance, that's faith. God is looking around all over the earth for people who will have faith in Him and His word.
That's another Opinion of the Minion
I have read the bible many times and one of my goals for every year is to read the bible from cover to cover. There are many things that I don't completely understand about the bible but one thing I do love is that God shows me more and more about him every time I read it.
So today, I want to tell you about something that confused me for years. I would love to tell you that I am one of those guys who doesn't need to be told anything twice, that I retain it all the first time through but that isn't the case. However, most of the time if you tell me a story, I will remember the whole thing. Sometimes not in great detail but I generally remember most of it.
Well, the Bible repeats the story of God delivering Israel from Egypt several times. As a matter of fact in the Psalms, David references it multiple times. Moses even made the children of Israel learn songs about it. I know that God wanted the Israelites to teach this to their children and I thought for a long time it was just a history lesson. I thought that God wanted generation after generation of Israelites to know about him and that's certainly true. But why did he repeat this story so many times in the Bible. Was it because He knew many of us wouldn't read our Bible and He just hoped that if we opened it a few times we would stumble onto the truth? Nope, God doesn't work this way.
Now I can't tell you that this is the only reason that God put that story in the Bible so many times but I can tell you one reason that it shows up over and over and over. See, when David was retelling this story over and over, I locked onto one reason. He said that he was stirring himself up by telling this story. When David got in a hard place and it looked hopeless, he would start thinking about all the times that God delivered him in the past and it would increase his faith. That is one reason God tells this story so many times. He wants us to stir up our faith in him. When we see places where it looks like everything is hopeless, we can go back and say, "Wait a minute. When I was in a situation that looked hopeless before, God delivered me." I can tell you that there have been many circumstances in my life when I didn't see a way out.
That feeling of anxiety and hopelessness sucks. I don't like it. But I can tell you that if I start looking back at all the times that God has delivered me in the past, I start thinking about the time when I needed gas for my car and God provided it, I start thinking about the time when I needed extra money and a check for a few hundred dollars showed up in my mailbox, I start thinking about the time when it looked like my business might fall apart and God supernaturally changed things in my favor, I start thinking about the time when I felt lonely and God brought someone into my life, I start thinking about when I didn't know what to do with my children and God showed me the way. It's happened again. I've blogged myself happy. When I think about His goodness and what He's done for me, I get happy. But guess what, there are still situations in my life where I don't know what to do, I sit back and remember all the times that God has brought me through before and those feelings of helplessness and anxiety go away because I know He will do it again.
So I want to encourage you. If you are facing a situation that you don't know what to do with, start remembering all the times that the Lord delivered you or made a way where there didn't seem to be a way. Start thinking about how He was always there when you called out. It will make the situation you face now grow smaller as His provision grows larger in your life.
Now some of you may not have many places to draw on for those types of memories. Don't worry, read. The Bible is full of places where God delivered people. Start reading those and mediating on those. He promised that if He did it for someone in the Bible, He will do it for you. Test God. Remind Him of His word and what He promised. That's not arrogance, that's faith. God is looking around all over the earth for people who will have faith in Him and His word.
That's another Opinion of the Minion
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