Fear and Faith Can’t Occupy the Same Space
“Then Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the river right before your eyes.”
Joshua 4:21-23 (NLT)
These stones that Israel were told to gather came from the middle of the Jordan river. They were instructed to collect twelve huge stones from the middle of the riverbed right where the priests were standing as the nation crossed over on dry ground! It was like the miracle of parting the Red Sea but for a new generation of Israelites! They had heard the miracle-wonder of that crossing from their fathers and now they were experiencing their very own miracle, crossing the Jordan river! God told Joshua to use these stones as a monument to remember the miracle God did for them and to encourage and challenge generations to come. This is the impact a personal miracle book will have in your life as well! A Miracle Book simply captures the goodness of God in our lives. It will become your own stones of remembrance!
The first step to beginning your own miracle book is to recognize every miracle God does in your life. Yesterday we reviewed three tips that would help us open our eyes to see the miracle-wonders of God all around us that we often overlook.
The second step is to record every miracle. This is what Joshua did after Israel crossed the Jordan River. The reason we need to record every miracle is because it is so easy to forget even the wonderful deeds God does if we don’t write them down. But don’t wait just for the big ones. Begin to record the everyday places, events, and circumstances where you see God working. Begin to make the connection between what you are praying for and what is happening around you. You’ll begin to see God in new and exciting ways!
When you record every miracle, don’t worry about using perfect sentence structure or grammar. Just jot down the date, time, and significant events where you see God at work around you displaying His goodness in your life. Tell Him your honest struggles and desires. Your miracle book will become a spiritual journal that logs God’s activity for generations to come. It will make faith dynamic in your life and the lives of your children. The Psalmist said, “We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about His power and His mighty wonders. … so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting His glorious miracles and obeying His commands.” Psalm 78:4-7 (NLT)
The third step for making your own miracle book is to rehearse every miracle. Don’t just record it and forget it. Rehearse it in your mind and with your family. There is a tremendous power that lifts our spirits when we rehearse what God has done in our lives. In Psalm 42:6 (MSG) the Bible says, “When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of You.” When you view your life through the lenses of God’s Word and His activity, even in the hard times, God’s goodness will come into focus.
The final step is to receive every miracle. God gives us miracles in His way and in His time. If we are careful to open our eyes, we will see the miracle in today. We will begin to see the miracle hidden in our pain.
So, are you ready to start your own miracle book? Just get a simple spiral notebook of blank pages and begin to record everywhere you see God’s goodness in your life! You’ll be amazed at what He is doing!