Thus far: Walking with God in the pages of your journal
I scratched onto paper our list of miracles on a particularly scary day. My husband and I realized our daughter needed care beyond what insurance, local resources, and our means could cover.
We were in an extended crisis and stared down a mountain of impossibility. But instead of sitting in the impossible, my husband and I began recounting all the miracles we experienced so far: a retired nurse next door and an ER nurse across the street, a close teacher-friend to help with school concerns, specialized advice just as we needed it, someone to run a statewide inquiry into resources, my in-laws living ten minutes away and able to step in with a single phone call, and more…
The miracles go on for two solid pages.
That journal also houses lists of questions, possible reasons why this crisis unfolded, advice from medical professionals, and school contacts that we had to keep updated. For two months, our lives bounced between appointments and panic. It all looked impossible, but help waited around nearly every corner.
In 1 Samuel chapter 7, Samuel knew the Israelites had accomplished the impossible when they chased the Philistines away. And he marked the location with an enormous stone called Ebenezer, meaning "Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
I write in my journal every day. It helps me see God in both big and small ways. And out of thirty journals, this list may be the most significant entry. My list, stacked like a tower of stones, helped us remember how the impossible became possible. It gave us hope that with God’s help, we can face any crisis. And on that terrifying day, when we could not see how to help our daughter, this list showed me that the Lord helped us so far.
And it gave me the faith to pray for more.
I cannot say I have always believed in miracles. And I cannot say miracles came every time I asked. But, in this stretch with our girl, God did the impossible.
And one day, when my girls ask why God is not doing this or that, I can show them our Ebenezer list, just as Israelites for generations told the story of that Ebenezer stone.
Two ways to mark miraculous moments in our journal pages.
Take time to remember
You may already have a mental list of moments when the impossible became real in your life or in the lives of your loved ones. Spend some time writing out your list, and refer back to it when you or your people need the faith to pray for more.
Prayers and answers page
In the front (or back) of your journal, designate a page or two to keep track of what you have asked for in prayer. Then, when you find these prayers answered, write a note next to the prayer. Include dates and details—and if you penned a journal entry about it, include that page number as well.
Scripture for meditation
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
1 Samuel 7:12-14 (NIV)
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