At our company’s end of year event, Dr. Alan Wolfelt talked about the importance of going back before moving forward. He was stressing the importance of sharing memories and thoughts about your deceased loved one before you can really move forward in life. At church this morning, our pastor, David McQueen, discussed, “To face the future with courage we must regularly recount God’s Faithfulness in the past” – to move forward, you need to go back.
David made some really good points this morning:
- The temptation, when looking at a future that is uncertain and difficult, is to forget what God has done and look at our own strengths to face the future.
- And when we rely on ourselves, we begin to succumb to cowardice and quit living with faith and courage.
- Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
- What is the word of our testimony? It is what God has done – how God has been faithful.
- The journey of faith is one of steps, taking our next steps with Jesus, whatever they might be.
- Sometimes those steps, often those steps, stretch and challenge us.
- The temptation is to forget (or at least minimize) how we got where we are and face the days to come on our own.
- And when we fall prey to self-reliance, fear begins to replace courage, cowardice becomes our norm instead of valor.
- To deal with an uncertain and, at times, difficult future, we have to look back, remember the work of God, and tell the stories – recounting the faithfulness of God. [emphasis added]
It is extremely important to look back on your life and see how God has been faithful, and David’s sermon really caused me to reflect. God has been so, so good to me. The memory that kept coming to mind was the time in 2002 when I went to the mountains with 4 other men in order to study “Wild At Heart,” a book by John Eldredge. This retreat challenged me to choose Christ in every area of my life. Consequently, I came back and decided to make changes to our business, to the way I loved my wife, to the way I disciplined/loved my children, and generally, to the way I approached life. This Wild At Heart retreat literally changed the way I approached my life.
So, my question for you is this: How has God worked in your life and shown himself faithful – what story from your past needs to be retold?” Please take some time this week and answer this question.
Blessings, Kris