These last couple of weeks have flown by; sorry for my long absence! After school wrapped up at the end of May, we had a couple of family birthdays, then Colin flew out for a conference in R.I. and the kids and I went here:
Seeing the sights in Washington, D.C. was not our primary objective, however. My main purpose for our trip was to catch up with some girlfriends and their families: one from our days in Boston, one from college, and one from high school. (I also intended to take my computer along and write this post while we were there, but left my backpack on one of our kitchen chairs instead. Oops!)
I didn't have words to express how excited I was to see my friends; what a blessing to share history with people! As I anticipated the trip, I got to thinking about how history can give us hope. From each stage of my life, I have fast friends. We may not talk regularly, but our overlapping paths "back then" allow us to pick up quickly where we left off. It's marvelous. And I've got many wonderful ladies in my life where I live right now, as well. (Hey gals!) So as I think about our move to a new town this summer, a place where we could settle for quite a while, I'm encouraged to trust that God will provide another great crop of friends there, too.
But the child of God need not stop thinking about history simply with the beginning of his/her life. Nope. We can go even further back than that. Consider these words from Psalm 136.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
5 who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
6 who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
7 who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
8 the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
9 the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
11 and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
12 with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
13 to him who divided the Red Sea asunder
His love endures forever.
14 and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
15 but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
17 to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
18 and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
21 and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
22 an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
24 and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
The story - the history! - of God's faithfulness and love extends all the way back to creation. And the Word tells us that His love endures forever. The Israelites didn't have Jesus to include in their recounting of Psalm 136, but this Psalm could certainly extend from the Old Testament into the New, then up to the present day. God has been and is preserving His people. I love to imagine how this Psalm could be continued by each one of us with specifics from our lives and the cadence, His love endures forever. Not only can we sons and daughters of The King be comforted in the midst of change or challenging circumstances by our brief history on this earth. Oh no! We don't need to stop there. We can look all the way back to Genesis 1 and consider (with delight!) how God's love truly does endure forever.
WOW!
Remembering our history and remembering our God has such power to set ablaze our faith. I'm so very thankful for my friends and God's grace in allowing or walks on this planet to intersect for His predetermined periods of time. And I'm thankful for what looking back does to rejuvenate my faith as I look forward.
Will you join me to day and consider your own history?
Drop a comment if you'd like.
I'd love to hear stories about ways God has used looking back to give you hope as you look ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment