Remember When
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I shared last week about trusting the Lord when we're going through trials and suffering. I'm aware that it's not always easy - especially when we don't understand or when we have questions. One of the things that helps me is to "remember when." I speak out - or make a list of - times when God met me and our family in times of difficulty. It only takes remembering a few of them to feel faith and hope arise with new vigor in our hearts!
- Remember when God healed me of rheumatic fever when I was a teenager?
- Remember when I was going on my first YWAM Summer of Service as a 16 year old and didn't have all my funds? You provided, Lord, 6 hours before the plane took off!
- Remember when we were leading the Dilaram House ministry to hippies in Afghanistan, trusting you day by day for the finances we needed? We served dinner one night with no funds to buy breakfast the next morning. One of our guests left a cash gift under their plate that I found while clearing the table. I joyfully told Floyd we could serve breakfast the next day. You always provided.
- Remember when we moved to the Ark ministry in Amsterdam (the 2 houseboats in the harbor behind the Central Station) and I was so sick with the pregnancy of our son? I didn't think I could make it there - taking care of our toddler and everything involved with the ministry while being so sick. I cried out to you, and the next day the morning sickness was gone.
- Remember all the death threats Floyd got while we lived in the red light district in Amsterdam ministering to the prostitutes and drug addicts? You protected him and he was never harmed.
- Remember when you healed our daughter after being deathly ill for 6 1/2 years? The doctors didn't give much hope, but You, Lord, answered prayer.
- Remember when we arrived in South Africa with no team, very little money, and only a dream and vision for what you wanted to do on this continent? God has done so much in the years since then.
- Remember our tears when I was diagnosed with cancer? The doctor thought at best I'd live 2 years. You have touched me time and time again, and I'm alive over 9 years later to give you praise today for your goodness.
- I also remember when Floyd got sick. He wasn't healed. He was in the hospital for over 5 years. BUT - time and time and time again - God answered prayers on his/our behalf. I knew every single day that God was with us and helping us. I vividly remember how God carried him, me, and our family through those years.
I could go on and on and on! There are so many "remember whens" of God meeting us in the midst of trials and suffering. He has been so faithful! Whatever I'm facing today, or tomorrow, or in the years to come - He is able to meet me and help me!
The book of Psalms is filled with recalling all the great things God had done for His people. It's a wonderful example for us of "remember when." He created the heavens and the earth. He brought them out of slavery. He protected them in the desert for 40 years. "His love endures forever!" Psalm 136
"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." Psalm 139:14, 15
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1, 2
"He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them." Psalm 145:19
"How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 36:7
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." Psalm 28:7
U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said - "We celebrate the past to awaken the future." We celebrate all the ways God has helped us, all the "remember whens," so that we can with faith trust Him for the new things we face - knowing that He will meet us again and again.