Face the Future by Remembering the Past

Yesterday, my friend Dr Dave Atmore brought the morning message to the worshippers of Prairie Tabernacle congregation. The main idea of this "New Years 2009" message was to Face the future by remembering God's faithfulness and goodness to us in the past, both personally and corporately. As we reviewed the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River and setting up memorial stones, Dave shared some personal stories of key "stones" in his life - Stones commemorating God's provision, protection, and peace at times in his life. And the key question he asked us to think about was "What stones are you setting up in your life?" So here's my attempted answer...

1) My body has a lot of marks that serve as reminders of God's goodness and faithfulness - basically places in my physical body that shouldn't work but they do. The most basic explanation is that my body systems (respiratory especially) has developed its own way of working so that it keeps me breathing, working, functioning, etc... and relatively well... even though some of the "signs" of a properly working respiratory system such as oxygen saturation levels, skin colour, etc are saying that something is dangerously wrong. Everyday, my body reminds me that God's moment-by-moment sustaining keeps me going. Thank You, Lord.

2) My second stone would be my "degrees." Although they could be seen as my accomplishment, most of the time, I remember that these pieces of parchment happened because God provided people to encourage me at the right time to start a program, continue a program, and see it through to completion. God provided the finances for me to be able to complete these degrees without any debt (now! I did borrow some money for my undergraduate degree). And most importantly today, these degrees are a reminder that God has provided me with the call as well as the education and vocation (teaching and administrating) to serve Him each day.

3) The third "symbol" reminding me of God's goodness in the past would be my wedding ring... and the family God has blessed me with... both Sarah and I and Caleb as a family, as well as the extended families of the Ibbotsons and Hunts.

This message reminded me of a good life principle yet also a great leadership principle: We can only face the (uncertain) future when we remember what God has done in the past.