20 May A Reflection on Reflecting
I’m not really one who keeps journals. The closest thing I probably have are the “memories” on Facebook that tell me how much of a fool I was ten years ago. But as I get older, I find myself reflecting back on my life, especially as a Christian, and how much the Lord has worked in me to change me to be more like Christ. Definitely not where I could be, but also not where I was.
And the more pensive I am about my past, the more reason I have to praise God, to thank Him, and to glorify Him. The Psalmist says it best in Psalm 77:11–15:
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.
Can you think of times in your own life, or maybe someone you were praying for, where the Lord worked wonders, performed mighty deeds, or redeemed people? I bet you can! And if you can’t, you need to beg God to restore unto you the joy of salvation, because just in your own life, He has brought you from death to life. You were a corpse, and then God breathed life into you. We celebrate when our favourite movie or TV characters are brought back from the dead, but do we celebrate real resurrection? We must!
One of the things that I have been pondering lately is the act of preaching the gospel to myself daily. I believe I heard that first in a John Piper sermon, but I know it’s all over the place. When you look back, when you reflect on your own life, do you do so with the lenses of a sinner, with great sin and darkness in your past? Or do you do so with the lenses of one redeemed, knowing that in all of the darkness when you could not see, God was guiding you. Where there was sin, there now stands Christ victorious over all of it, and you can’t find your sin in your reflecting, because God has thrown it as far as the east is from the west. Maybe your plans didn’t work exactly the way you wanted, but you can see how God’s plans have been far better.
About six years ago, I started saving every tiny encouragement card or email that got sent to me. They’re all in a folder. And when darkness comes – and it does! – I go to that folder and remember what the Lord has done. Not because I am so great that I get encouraging notes – never that – but seeing the Lord at work in people through their kind words to me has reminded me over and over that He is working, even when I don’t see it or feel it.
I want to encourage you all to reflect back on your own life. I know most of you aren’t journallers, like myself. That’s ok – you can look back on your memories and see how God has been with you through it all. I am sure that many of you could write a reflection on how awesome God has been in your life.
Remember the deeds of the Lord – what god is great like our God? None, because there are no others. The more you reflect on His working in your life, the more you will see that. He is always good.
