The Power of Reflection

We are a people who remember...

When Dayna and I used to Pastor the Youth and we would go on a missions trip we learned the power of reflection built the power of anticipation....

After a 7 - 10 day mission trip … the heat, humidity and busyness would bring them to a place of exhaustion and irritability.

After a week or 2 many of the youth would begin to remember the hardships… Hardship are easy to remember

I saw Guatemala, and Mexico and Russia though the lens of a camcorder for the better part of 10 years. I would return with 10 to 12 hours of footage.

I would begin the process of sifting through the footage and pulling together the smiles and victories from the trip.

I would put together a music video and plan a youth event to recap the trip

The results would be so amazing . Smiles, Tears, Plans to Do it again.

The power of Reflection gives birth the power of Anticipation.

Hyperthymesia

I love to read/listen to audio books. There is one series of books I have really enjoyed about a guy who has a condition called Hyperthymesia- is a condition that leads people to be able to remember an abnormally large number of their life experiences in vivid detail.

It is extraordinarily rare, with only about 60 people in the world having been diagnosed with the condition as of 2021.

What would life be like if we could… could not forget the goodness and faithfulness of God The joy… The relief… The peace.

Hebrews 11:21 (NIV)

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

What Jacob did certainly does not look like a "miracle of faith".

But it was. Jacob had finished his course.

The staff had become necessary to Jacob, because his thigh had been dislocated at Peniel. As he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord.

Leaning upon that staff, he would always remember the miracle that God had wrought in his life, in breaking his stubborn self-will.

His leaning upon his staff now symbolized his helpless, moment-by-moment dependence on his God.

He worshipped God now as a broken man.

He gloried in his weakness and his infirmity - and that was his daily testimony.

If This Stick Could Talk.

I heard a man tell about a trip he took to Israel and as he visited a museum he notice a barrel containing a bunch of sticks. He asked what they were, he was told "Shepherd staffs collected from over the years “.

He noticed some of them had ornate carving and others had various marks cut into them.

The museum curator told him that was what shepherds would do as a way to record the faithfulness of God in their lives.

Hebrews 11:21 (NIV)

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)

Even though I walk

through the darkest valley, 

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Question? How can a rod and staff comfort you?

Psalm 103:1–5 (NIV)

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

God’s Good Memorials

“God knows that we are forgetful. So he gives us memorials.”

In Joshua 3, we read of an amazing miracle God performed for his people.

He caused the Jordan River to stop flowing so they could cross on dry ground into the Promised Land.

God then instructed them, through Joshua, to gather twelve stones from the Jordan to set up as a memorial.

One man from each tribe was selected to take a stone from the riverbed.

Joshua set them up as a sign, as a remembrance, of what God accomplished for his people on that day.

God is so gracious to us. He knows we have spiritual amnesia.

He knows that we are forgetful.

So he gives us memorials.

He commands us to do certain things that will serve as reminders.

6 practical ways to fight spiritual amnesia.

1. Think

What are some defining moments for you — a moment when God showed his power in your life.

When he was guiding you in a very clear way,

When he answered a prayer

Fulfilled a promise? “

Psalm 77:12 (NIV)

I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

2. Thank

Engage your heart in gratitude for what he has done.

Psalm 9:1 NIV

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

3. Tell

Once we’ve spent time remembering and thanking the Lord for the great things he has done for us, the joy of those memories should overflow in our conversations with those around us.

Joshua 4:21–22 NIV

He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’

4. Traditions

As you think about holiday and birthday traditions, consider how you can incorporate ways of telling the stories of God’s faithfulness.

1 Peter 1:18 NIV

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,

5. Transcribe … Write it down

Keep a journal. Write out prayer requests, and then record the ways in which God answers those prayers. When you’re feeling discouraged, look back on those records of God’s faithfulness.

6. Taste and See

Lord’s Supper and baptism are great ways of remembering and proclaiming what Christ has done.

In the Lord’s Supper, we take in our hands the bread and the cup. The senses of touch, smell, and taste are all involved as we partake of a meal representing Christ’s death in our place.

For the one being baptized, it is a most memorable experience as he or she is immersed in water. And as the rest of us participate in baptism through our presence, we see with our eyes a dramatic parable of death, burial, and resurrection.

Let us not forget. May we be people who fight spiritual amnesia with God-given means of remembrance.