Remember....

picture found from sojourningwithjews.com

...the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrows were turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.

Esther 9:22

Remember is a word that can immediately pull us out of our current reality and back into the past.  The memory can be one full of joy and laughter or one of sorrow and pain.  Some memories we'd like to forget but can't and then there are others we never want to forget, and try to hold on to as long as we can.

Mordecai made the Jews promise never to forget how they had been delivered by celebrating a feast every year - one that is still remembered and celebrated (and it's coming up on March 4, 2015).

This is not the first time the Jewish people were told to Remember something that God had delivered them from.

Remember when the Jewish people were captives in Egypt?  Remember when God Passed Over the Jewish households and killed only the Egyptian firstborns?

"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance."

Exodus 12:14 

Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.

Exodus 12:42

And, Remember when Joshua was about to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, but the Jordan River was in the way, flowing along at flood levels?  And, Remember when God parted the river, just as He had the Red Sea, so that His Chosen People could cross safely?  And, Remember when God asked Joshua to set up twelve stones as a memorial to Remember for generations what the Lord had done?

"In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."

Joshua 4:6-7 

I was reflecting a few weeks ago and wondering how do I set up memorials to remember what the Lord has done?  How do I celebrate the ways that He has delivered me from bondage and danger?

I was bothered that I don't have stone memorials in my yard or celebration days set aside to praise and thank God.

And then I opened up my Bible.

I never thought of the notes and prayers and dates and names that I write in my Bible were anything other than notes and prayers and dates and names...but THESE are memorials!  

Every time I open my Bible and read one of these, I immediately Remember.  My mind races back to the night I sat with my Papa as he took his last breath.  I remember the tears of both sadness and joy, knowing that his frail and fragile body was completely new and healthy and he was once again with my Grandma and with Jesus.

I Remember praying for my little friend Natalie when we found out her brain tumor had returned and her fate was unknown.

I Remember when we were praying day after day for almost a year, knowing that we needed to leave one place, but not sure when or where to go.  And then, when we were finally released, there was so much peace realizing God's great faithfulness through the trial and how He restores the weary.

Page after page in my Bible are marked with these "memorials" that make me Remember.

I also journal and sometimes will write out my prayers, which are also a great way to reflect and Remember!

I love having a way to look back on God's faithfulness in both the good and the bad.  

How do you Remember what God has done?