Remembering what God has done is encouraging. Do you need to be encouraged today? I get down when I focus on myself and fail to look up at Jesus. When I look down, I forget all the blessings I have and all the blessings that await me in the future. When I begin to focus on all that God has done for me it lifts me up out of muck and mire.
In our story Jacob is on a long journey to see his Uncle Laban after a family dispute. During this journey Jacob like all of us must sleep and when he does God speaks to him in a dream. The dream God gives Jacob is one of the most amazing dreams recorded in all the Scriptures.
In the dream Jacob sees a stairway that reached from earth to heaven and angels and ascending and descending. God reaffirms the promise of the covenant He made with Jacob’s grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. Finally, the Lord says he will protect him, not leave him and bring him back to the land he is leaving.
Jacob Makes a Memorial to Remember What God has Done
Genesis 28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz…22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”[1]
Jacob was so encouraged by this dream that wanted to make a special memorial to remember it. This memorial was to remind everyone to worship God.
God Wants Us to Remember what He has Done
I have learned it is beneficial to take time and record what the Lord has done in my life. This colorful roadmap of my journey helps me remember God’s faithfulness. I get focused on the fact that I’m not where I want to be that I forget how far the Lord has brought me. My journal helps me refocus on God as I remember what He has done.
Remembering is important because we easily forget. Remember where He found you and how He adopted you into His family. Ephesians 1:5God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.[2]
When we purposely think about what God has done, many experiences and events will come to mind. For instance, did God answer your prayer about something? Did you witness a miracle in your life or observe one? Write it down so you don’t forget. Just writing this inspiring me to do a better job of writing down all that God is doing in my life.
To consider remembering what God has done, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/god-has-more-a-dream-for-jacob
[1,2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers