May 7, 2025

Early in my life of faith, I received a tip from a sister in the Lord to start writing down everything God says or does in my life. This was mainly so that I could remind myself of this and not forget all the miracles, both big and small.   I bought a notebook and started writing. I wrote down everything I didn’t want to forget, and as my journey with God became longer and longer, so did my notebook become fuller and fuller. Eventually it was almost impossible to keep up with writing everything down because beautiful things happened every day and every word God spoke was more precious to me than gold and I wanted to record everything one way or another.   Sometimes I would flip through the notebook, and by reading things back, I would be encouraged to keep going and not give up, other times I would flip through it and be overwhelmed with gratitude. But even more so, there were times when I didn’t see any progress in the things I was praying for, God seemed miles away, and the sky was brass; at those times, my notebook would help me to remember all that God had done for me and through me over time. He is truly present in my life and guiding me. Because of this, the lies and doubts in my head would melt away like snow in the sun. “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” – Psalm 77:11-12 Lions and bears I think it is important to remember milestones and victories, and, even more so, to testify of them. The Bible tells us to remember them (Psalm 105:5, Psalm 77:11–12, Psalm 103:1-2), not only for yourself as a reminder but also so that you do not forget that God is trustworthy, He is always with you and will never leave you nor forsake you.   “Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,” – Psalm 105:5   “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits” – Psalm 103:1-2   It therefore also reminds me of the Bible story of David and the giant, Goliath. I think it is beautiful that David bravely went into battle against the great Philistine; Goliath. Without a doubt, he knew that God was with him and that he would therefore gain the victory. This trust does not just fall out of the sky, as with every relationship, you first have to get to know someone before there can be trust. So also with David; he knew God; he had already experienced how God stood behind him and that he had gained a victory time and again. God had already saved him from the claws of lions and bears, as we read in 1 Samuel 17:37.    “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” – 1 Samuel 17:37   His faith was built up by this, and his trust in God was great. He remembered all these things when he stood before Goliath. This contributed to the fact that he no longer looked at the enemy who stood before him but remembered Who stood behind him.   Faith must be developed, much like a muscle. Those who wait until the day of the contest to start training are going to lose. That’s not the way it works in the natural or the spiritual.   Joshua is also instructed by God to set up twelve memorial stones so that the memory of the miracle that God had done for the Israelites would remain alive (Joshua 4:20–24) for the generations that would follow.   “And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.” – Joshua 4: 20-24 Know Who is behind you When you sometimes find yourself in difficult situations or in times of great struggle, you can sometimes be overwhelmed by everything that is raging around you. Because of all these things, you can sometimes forget Who is behind you. It is important to think of all those storms and giants that you have already overcome together with God, all the seas that He has already parted so that you could safely cross to the other side.   We need our memories of all the victories, and not just for ourselves; God uses our testimonies of what He has done in our lives for someone else as well. Because what He did for us, He wants to do for someone else, for He does not change (Hebrews 13:8). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” – Hebrews 13:8 I want to encourage you to think again about what God has done in your life, and how do you carry this with you? Do you still think about it regularly, or is it somewhere vague in your memory? Maybe you can find a way for yourself to bring it back to mind. Memories of the miracles that God has done for us also ensure that our trust in Him grows and that we dare to let go