Got Stones?

It says, "God is always faithful" in Portuguese.

We did something (as a family) several weeks ago. And, even though it may seem weird to you, I know that it was something that we just had to do. But rather than just telling you what we did, let me tell you how it all went down.

It was early December and we’d just come through a very difficult year and a half. But, in spite of all the difficulties, we’d seen God do some pretty amazing things in our life. And everything we’d experienced was a direct result of listening and responding to what God had asked us to do. We’d already adopted 5 kids from another country (2 years earlier), we’d left a great job on the pastoral staff at a church we loved (and had been at for almost 10 years), we sold/gave away a majority of our material possessions and moved to a foreign country to be missionaries (where we didn’t speak the language). And, to top it all off, we did the whole “missionary thing” without the backing of any mission organization and without a lot of promised financial support. But we knew that we heard from God.

In addition to that, we’ve had to press through a solid year chocked-full of spiritual issues, physical issues, emotional issues, issues with the government, issues with family, transportation issues... you name it, and chances are we were wrestling with problems in that area at some point. And I’m not just talking about minor issues either. I’m talking about major league issues! But we knew we were doing what God had called us to do.

The problem with going through “stuff” is that when you’re in the midst of it all- you tend to forget about all the great things that God’s done in the past. It’s just part of our fallen human nature. We all suffer from it. It’s like we have the attitude of “what have you done for me lately, God” rather than just being thankful for what He’s already done and remembering how He brought us through the last ________. 

So that brings me back to December. It was the end of the year and we were exhausted. And, not only were we exhausted, we were so fatigued that we felt like we weren’t doing anything for God and that we were just wasting our time being here in Brazil. Just “living” where we were was taking everything we could muster just to survive. And then one day ‘it’ happened. I sat down to put together an end of the year video for our supporters, and there it was. As I looked through hundreds of photos and video footage of the past year, I began to remember. I remembered all the kids, I remembered all the teenagers, I remembered every camp, I remembered every event that we put together to further the Gospel. And, as I remembered, I was immediately encouraged. Even though I was still feeling fatigued. Even though none of the spiritual, physical or emotional issues that I was facing had changed, I somehow felt a new energy that was invigorating... and it was all because I remembered. There’s power in remembering.

And then for some reason I “just so happened” to read Joshua 3 & 4 (obviously it was by God’s design because I’m not that smart). It’s where God was finally, after all those years, bringing the Children of Israel into the promised land. And, as He was bringing them through the Jordan, He told Joshua something powerful. He told him to take 12 stones from the midst of the Jordan (one stone for each tribe) and build a memorial that everyone could see to remember what He (God) was about to do. Not just his (Joshua’s) generation, but the generations to come as well. And if you read the story they did just that. Actually Joshua (throughout the whole book of Joshua) built 7 different stone memorials. Some were to remember God’s faithfulness and some were to remember how they had failed God. He built memorials that gave not only his generation something tangible to point back to (so they could remember), but also something for the generations to come. 

You see, God knew that even though He was doing something amazing for His people (because of their fallen sinful nature) they were gonna be tempted to forget His faithfulness. So they needed something of substance to remember and be encouraged by... a memorial. 

So, as I was sitting there going through all the media from the past year, it made me think about how God had just brought our family through the entire year and we only made it because of His supernatural provision. He not only provided (through our generous supporters) all the finances we needed to minister to hundreds upon hundreds of children and teenagers, but He also provided all the finances we needed to complete several building projects. He provided everything we needed to maintain the  camp and every building on the property. He provided enough finances for us so that almost half of the camps we held were FREE so that orphans and kids from the local favelas (slums) could experience Jesus. And every time our vehicle broke down, we had the money to fix it. And we never missed a meal. And we were always able to pay our utility bills on time. And we made it through every single attack that the enemy threw our way. It doesn’t matter what he (the enemy) tried to destroy us with, God delivered us. Every poisonous snake we faced, we killed. Every poisonous spider we encountered, we smashed. Every bug bite, every sprain, every bump, every bruise, every pain- He healed us from. God was so faithful to us. And in the midst of Him being faithful we were able to accomplish so much for the Kingdom of God. I had remembered. 

And then I knew what we had to do. We needed to build our own monument. We needed to build something to remember God’s faithfulness by. So we sat around and I told the family about the story in Joshua and how it related to us. Then, as a family, each one of us took a stone and mortared it into place around a rock that says (in Portuguese), “God is always faithful.” And we built it in front of our house so that everyone who pulls up sees it. And now, any time we’re feeling discouraged, we have something to point to and help us remember how “God has been so faithful to us.”

So what about you? Are you going through a difficult time where you feel like God’s abandoned (or forgotten) you? I guarantee, that if you take the time to remember some of the things that He’s done in the past, you’ll find the strength that you’re looking for. And once you remember, you may want to build a memorial too. Maybe not of stone and mortar, but just something that will help you never forget how good He is: )

Remembering God’s Faithfulness,

Jim and MJ