It was one of “those” times. A time we would rather forget; one that
despite our recovery, we choose to ignore. No one is immune to experiences such as these. Painful occurrences can be of our
own choosing, other times we are blindsided by the choices of others. Nonetheless, they happen and we are
left with the aftermath of pain and brokenness, doubt and fear, guilt and
shame.
Then Jesus comes! He bandages our wounds and tends to our
scars, yet they remain. We can
forgive, but it is difficult to forget.
How long must we rest and heal?
Are we supposed to forget?
The answers to these questions
are given on an individual basis.
Each one of us requires a different length of season for healing and
rest after a traumatic experience.
We cannot ignore the need for rest because Jesus has commanded us to do
just that, “Come to me, all of you
who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew
11:28, NLT). That seems easy enough, but what about the “forgetting”
part?
In the fourth chapter of Joshua,
after the Israelites crossed the Jordan, God instructed Joshua to choose twelve men, one from each tribe,
to remove twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River. They were to go before the priests who were carrying the Ark of the
Covenant and wait until the priests were in the middle of the river. There they were to remove the stones
from the exact spot where the priests stood. This sounds like such an odd request, but the reason becomes
clear in verses 5-7, “Each of you is to take up a stone . . . to serve as a
sign among you. In the future,
when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the
flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were
cut off. These stones are to be a
memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
I feel as if I am in a river of
turmoil sometimes. Perhaps the
Jordan is symbolic of life as it ebbs and flows. Portions of the river are deeper than others. What I forget is that the deep places
of hurt and despair are covered by the Lord and He can stop the waters right
where they are. The river
continues to flow, but for a brief moment when the water stops and He
overshadows my pain, as the ark
hovered over those stones, I am instructed to take something away to commemorate that time, a stone to remember.
Many times we assume that when
healing comes our memories should be erased. However, we cannot forfeit recall for resolution. God wants us to commemorate seasons of
difficulty and celebrate His sovereignty.
Our mind must dwell upon His attentiveness to our difficulties and how
we are changed in the midst of them rather than upon the challenge itself. These are the stones we need to celebrate and
remember.
The above stone is from the Maritime Museum in Astoria, OR. It is a permanent marker to memorialize
the tragic sinking of the U.S.Navy schooner Shark. Etched
on the surface are these words, “The Shark was lost, September 10, 1846.”
The entire crew survived although the schooner was a complete loss. The event has long past, but the memory
lives on and is a testimony to God’s saving grace and mercy. That stone needs to be remembered.
This picture is of a stone garden
at the Japanese Garden in Portland.
It is truly a garden of just rocks, however, each pattern set in place
has purpose and meaning.
These stones cause onlookers to recall certain memories depending on the
particular pattern that they form.
