So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. 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." So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua, and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twlve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. Joshua 4:4-9
Stacking stones. Remembering what God has done.
One of my favorite roles with Just Jump Ministries is connecting people for His glory. When I take the time to stack some stones, I am amazed all over again at how BIG and how GOOD our God is. Recently, I was enlisting some friends of Just Jump Ministries to write devotions that we will throughout the upcoming weeks leading up to Christmas. With each invitation, I pondered the connection God had provided with this person. I thought about shared mission experiences, life experiences, and the amazing way God brings people together. I reflected on how I have seen God at work in each of these people, and I found myself praising and thanking Him with a glad heart.
I don't think it was an accident God had me practicing stacking stones that particular day. Just a few short hours after this faith-inducing experience, I received a long-awaited phone call that brought some disappointing news. Because God had been preparing my heart all day long, I was reminded that God does indeed have a plan even when we do not completely understand it. We can trust Him even in moments that something seems impossible... like crossing the Jordan River at flood stage. Though my heart was hurting, I found myself anticipating that His story is still being unfolded.
Stacking stones continued as I found myself at a missions conference a few days later. As I marveled at the way God is at work all around us, and as I verbalized what I have seen Him do in my life and in Just Jump, I couldn't help but smile at how GOOD my God has been to me. My heart felt a little lighter, and my faith grew a little stronger.
As we celebrate this season of Thanksgiving, may we stop and stack some stones.
