Reminders

READ: PSALM 77:10-15

Have you ever made a scrapbook? Whether in digital form or with paper pages, scrapbooks can be a creative way to remind us of the people we love and the things we learn as we go through life.

Thinking about scrapbooks can help us understand an important part of our relationship with God. It’s good to take time to remember all the ways God has blessed us, whether by helping us with problems, giving us family, friends, and experiences, or any number of ways we’ve seen His presence in our lives. In the psalms, we find songs and poems that people created to praise and thank God for all He has done. And people in the Old Testament sometimes set up stones as physical reminders of the times God had shown His presence and faithfulness to them (Genesis 28:18-19; Joshua 4:1-9; 1 Samuel 7:12).

If you wanted to have a tangible way to remember God’s presence and faithfulness in your life, you could write a song or set up a stone or some other kind of reminder, or you could even make a scrapbook with pictures and words detailing the ways God has blessed you and revealed His goodness. But in a way, a book like this already exists. The Bible—sometimes called the Good Book—is full of God’s goodness throughout history. It tells us how He answers prayer and cares for people—and most importantly, how Jesus came to defeat sin and death and make us His children. Reflecting on all the things God has done for us in the past helps us remember that we can trust Him with our present and our future.

Because He loves us so deeply, God calls us to take time to look back and see how He has blessed us and helped us through all kinds of difficulties. He is eager to remind us just how trustworthy He is, and He invites us to rely on Him more and more. As we read about how He helped people in the Bible and how Jesus died and rose again to beat sin and death, we can know that the same God who helped His people generations ago still helps us today. He has not changed. We can always trust Him to help us and take care of us. • A. W. Smith

• Are there any Bible passages that have been particularly meaningful to you? What moments in your life would you like to hold on to as reminders of God’s trustworthiness? Is there some tangible way you could remind yourself of some of these good things God has done for you?

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. Psalm 77:11 (NIV)