Remember When...

When we recycle doubt and fear clips the wings of our faith, there is one discipline that can bring back perspective that is laid in truth. And that is retelling the stories of God's faithfulness, mercy and grace to ourselves and others. The stories from our own lives are profound and can be shared along with the stories from the Word. They not only memorialize God's work, bringing Him glory, but they restore the lessons and the truths that God intended to teach us in the moment. While we need new manna everyday and cannot live in the past, we do need to build upon the life God has offered us. Our lives are to grow and develop. Peter went from denying Jesus three times, to dying for him upside down on a cross. Our lives are journeys on which we are to pick up more and more treasures until we see how they fit together in to a beautiful portrait of God's nature. Our portraits will still be marred and smudged a bit, and maybe even a bit like a Picasso with pieces seeming to be in the wrong place. But nothing is lost. When we recall the stories where God made Himself more apparent–or we just paid more attention–we renew the faith and truth of God in our souls–and physically in our brains. Our spirit's are alive, but we fade elsewhere without restoring the vision of God in and for our lives. That vision deteriorates with the daily impact of competing world views, and basic human nature of sin. We may walk through the same cycle of doubt, fear, or discouragement as we have in our past. Our faith may lay dormant, but as we remind ourselves and others of the time when…our faith is reawakened and we can continue to to grow. Maturity in the faith, and our own well being rely on telling our stories.