Tuesday, March 17

Scripture: And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one thing has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you; all have come to pass for you, not one of them has failed.(Joshua 23:14).

Observation: Like Moses did before him, Joshua gives his farewell address to the Israelites. He knows it will soon be his turn to die, and his fatherly advice for the next generation is, remember. Remember what the Lord your God has done for you. Joshua calls the people to listen to their own hearts and souls, for their inward selves know, in a way that their conscious selves may not, that God has always been there for them and there is not one thing that God promised that did not come to pass. God promised liberation from slavery, and it happened. God promised to lead the people through the wilderness, and it happened. God promised to provide for their every need in the desert, and it happened. God promised them victory over their enemies, and it happened. God promised them plenty of Promised Land, and it happened. God was always there. Joshua’s big reminder is, carry the memory of God’s presence with you into the future. Yes, God will always be with the people, but it’s the memory of God’s presence that will sustain and encourage them and put them back on track when they turn away from God.

Application: Joshua wants the Israelites to take perspective. The word “perspective” literally means “to look through.” Joshua’s charge to the Israelites is to look upon themselves through the lens of memory: remember when God was there for you. This perspective will serve the crucial purpose of helping the people to see God’s presence in the present when God’s presence is not obvious, clear, or felt. Perspective can help us, too. It’s hard to see God’s presence in the present; sometimes it feels impossible. But perspective changes things. When we look on our lives through the lens of the memory of God’s presence with us, we notice the situations of our past where God’s presence and mysterious guidance was obvious, if only in hindsight. But hindsight is just another word for perspective. In the present, God’s presence is illusive. But in hindsight, or seen through the lens memory, we see where God was leading the story of our lives. And if God stuck with us through all those scary times back then, why not now?

Prayer:

These things I remember: when I was cowardly and You were the voice of my beloved calling me onward to be a better self; when the way forward was either hidden from me or non-existent, but You made a way, You did; when I was pulling my hair out and panicky anxious, but You quieted me; when the workload from all of my responsibilities piled up layer upon layer and I was suffocated, You opened my lungs; when bitterness was my daily bread and You gave me better food to eat; when the approval of others evaporated, You were dry land. What feels to me like hindsight is Your schooling in perspective-taking. You were always there for me, always. Your presence I cannot see in the present is written in bold on the pages of my story. Solidly present You always are; an eager student of Your creativity on every page of my life, help me to be. Onward we go: amen.