Have you ever completed one of those join the dots puzzles? The ones where you have to draw lines from one number to the next number in sequence, until you see the underlying image gradually start to form.
While praying recently, I found myself reflecting on some of the prayers I had made in the past. The more I reflected, the more I began to see how God was in the process of answering them, or in some cases had already answered them.
Doing so made me realise just how important it is to have these moments of reflection regularly, and how easy it is to forget answered prayers. Sometimes we may have a list of say, two, three, four, five, however many major prayer requests we want God to answer, and focus so much on these that we forget about the many other prayers He has answered or is answering in the meantime. Even more importantly, we forget to acknowledge God’s work in us, and the person He is shaping us to be, in the midst of all these.
As I thought about it, it occurred to me that such times of reflection are like working on a join-the-dot puzzle. We need to take the time to connect one dot to another, and as we do so, we will begin to see the big picture of God’s goodness, mercy and faithfulness in our lives. We may even start to see the good in things and events that we thought had no iota of good in them. For instance, we may find ourselves reflecting on a painful incident that happened in our lives, to us or a loved one, and how that incident may have brought about circumstances, opportunities, people, situations that have ended up being a blessing to us, blessings we would probably never have had otherwise. Or we may realise that the incident drew us much closer to God than we had ever been.
This is why the Bible encourages us over and over to meditate on God’s goodness, on His works, on His ways.
Psalm 9:1 (ESV) exhorts, “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
Psalm 77:12 (BSB) states, “I will reflect on all You have done and ponder Your mighty deeds.”
Psalm 105:5 (NLT) encourages us to “Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given.”
Psalm 119:15 (ESV) states, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”
Psalm 143:5 (ESV) says, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”
Psalm 145:5 (NLT) tells us, “I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendour and your wonderful miracles.”
Lamentations 3:21-23 (NKJV) says, “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the point.
These verses imply that there has to be an active, intentional process of recalling, of meditating, of reflecting, of recounting, of fixing our eyes. We have to tell ourselves, ‘I will…’ and then go ahead and do so. Again and again.
The passage in Lamentations quoted above also tells us that doing so stirs hope in us. It is worth noting that Lamentations 2:21-23 is right in the middle of a passage full of despair and anguish. As such, it is not necessarily the case that things will be going well for us before we can pause and reflect. In fact, it is even more important to take the time to reflect on such incidences of God’s goodness and faithfulness especially during challenging times.
Just as the hymn Count your blessings by Johnson Oatman beautifully reminds us, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”
Failing to reflect on this can cause us to forget the wonders God has performed. This can subsequently lead to us having unfaithful hearts and spirits, and walking in falsehood and disobedience, as we see in Psalm 78:2-11. Why? Well, when we don’t do so, it can be so easy to think God is not working, that God has forgotten us, or that He has been unfaithful to us and therefore does not ‘deserve’ our faithfulness.
On the other hand, the more we continue to reflect on what He has done, the more we will realise that we can join the Psalmist to say “O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.” (Psalm 40:5, NLT).
I love the lines from the song Million Little Miracles by Elevation Worship and Maverick City Music, “I’ve got miracles on miracles, A million little miracles, Miracles on miracles, Count your miracles, One, two, three, four, I can’t even count ’em all.”
If you are already taking the time to regularly reflect on God’s faithfulness in your life, well done! Don’t forget though that more can be done. The Bible exhorts us to not just remember, but to tell His marvellous deeds to our children, to our generations, to great congregations, to nations even.
Isaiah 12:4 (NLT) notes, “In that wonderful day you will sing: “Thank the LORD! Praise His name! Tell the nations what He has done. Let them know how mighty He is!”
Isaiah 63:7 (BSB) says, “I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion and His praiseworthy acts, because of all that the LORD has done for us—the many good things for the house of Israel according to His great compassion and loving devotion.”
There is something about going beyond reflecting, to sharing incidences of God’s faithfulness, that really drives it home. Not only that, it spurs others to recall possibly unacknowledged times of God’s faithfulness in their own lives, stirring new hope in them, and hope afresh in us. Each time we tell of His goodness in our lives, the flame of hope is rekindled in our hearts. Each testimony is like a piece of dry wood added to the fire of our knowledge of God. As such, I encourage you to share stories of God’s goodness in your life. Whether you shout it from the rooftops or whisper it among friends, the most important thing is to keep reflecting and sharing, meditating and telling, recounting and worshipping. Over and over. Again and again.
If however, you are struggling to know just how to even meditate on God’s goodness and faithfulness, you might find the following prompts helpful…
What are the blessings God has give you? (If you are able to read this post, I can already count a few – life, sight, cognition, literacy, access to the internet, not to mention God giving me the grace, wisdom and strength to write the post :-)).
Where is God shaping your character? Even if you are still on the journey, why not celebrate and thank God for your progress to date?
What are the battles you faced where God came through for you?
What are the battles you are currently facing, where you can recognise God’s presence, strength and power as you fight?
What prayers did God say yes to?
What prayers did God not say yes to?
What doors did He open, what doors did He shut? Are you at the point where you can look back and thank Him even for the shut doors? If not, can you trust that He is a good Father and He may have shut them for a reason, and thank Him for that?
Where have you experienced God’s grace, receiving blessings you did not deserve?
Where have you experienced God’s mercy, not receiving what you deserve?
Have you taken a moment to bask in the realisation of just how much God loves you? If you need a symbol of that love, the cross and the empty tomb are powerful ones, among many others.
Can you remember the days you prayed for the things you have now? Does that spur on some more reflections of gratitude?
Philippians 4:8 (NLT) encourages us thus, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” God’s wonders in our lives fulfil these criteria, and so are indeed worth fixing our thoughts on.
I pray that as you think on these things, you will find more and more reasons to thank God. May you be truly astounded by what God has done for you over the years. I pray that you will see the ongoing evidence of His mighty hand upon on your life, how He carried you when you could not walk, and how He kept His light shining in you, even in the darkest times of your life. As you join the dots of events in your lives, may the fire of hope and faith in you burn brighter as you begin to see just how good and kind and faithful our Abba is. In doing so, may you be so overwhelmed with gratitude that you are compelled to worship this amazing, faithful, good, merciful, generous God in Spirit and Truth. Amen and Amen.
Image source here.
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