Corona Devo 495

While in Arizona to visit family, we had the privilege of driving through the desert for a couple hours the other day.  That might conjure up dry and boring visions in your head, but the reality was anything but.  It was purely amazing to absorb the beauty of unfamiliar (to me) terrain of plateaus, mountains, sands and cacti.

And rocks.  Lots of rocks.

In random areas, we would see rocks stacked on top of each other.  Some in big piles (with nothing but sand surrounding them), and some literally stacked in a tower, one on top of the other in a precarious fashion that forced you to try and figure who placed them there?     

Hikers?  Native Americans?  God?  

Regardless of that answer, the stacks of stone were stark, stoic, beautiful, and made a strong impression, unable to be ignored. 

Their images were still in the back of my mind's eye when I read today's verses in Joshua and saw them all over again.  God reminds us today to build our own memorials to remember and honor Him along our paths of life too.

We have most likely heard the story of God parting the Red Sea for Moses and the Israelites as they fled the slavery of the Egyptians.  But did you know that when a whole new generation of Israelites were dead-ended because it was the harvest season, and the Jordan (River) was overflowing its banks (Joshua 3:15), God did it again?: 

Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.  ~Joshua 3:17

When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, (2) “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. (3) Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”...

(4) So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. (5) He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. (6) We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ (7) Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”   ~Joshua 4:1-7

As they were making their trek, in the middle of their journey, and amidst the adventure/people/ relationships/struggle of it all,/and (don't miss them!) the miracles of daily life: God reminded the Israelites to (first) honor Him, and (second) to honor the memories of their life adventures with Him.  

We are reminded by Scripture today to do the same.

God told Joshua to have his men gather and stack stones as a memorial to honor God and to remind themselves and their children of all that the Lord had done and was doing for them.

God's presence in our lives will sometimes be quiet and steady, and sometimes dramatic and "river-parting", but our experiences are all "stones" that we stack to honor Him and to recall what He has brought-us through and blessed-us-by.

The piles and stacks of stone dotting the desert that I saw the other day were a visual and spiritual reminder that this practice of honoring and remembering God should not be relegated to the ancient Israelites, but we are called to it as well.

The foundation/teachings/faith of these experiences can become a bedrock foundation for us and our children.

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ (22) Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ (23) For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. (24) He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.”  ~Joshua 4:21-24

Take a moment to reflect today. Honor God by stacking some "stones" for Him in your heart.

Should we have a stack of rocks in our front yard or in a pile by our bedside? Perhaps not. But recognizing the (the difficult and the decadent) "stones" of today and yesterday, and praising God for them is important, and creates a firm foundation for our generations to come.

Whether actual or in-our-minds: let's build a memorial the Lord today. There is nothing dry and boring about it.

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com