What Do These Stones Mean?

I had the privilege of living in Japan for a few years when I was a kid. Though my dad was in the Army, he ended up stationed at Yokota Air Base as part of a signal battalion. It was one of the coolest places I lived as a kid because I got to watch countless planes and jets take off and land at the airfield during our time there. Mt. Fuji was always visible on the horizon, and the Japanese people themselves were wonderful. 

One year we went camping and fishing at a lake in Japan at the base of Mt. Fuji. If it's not the same lake, it looks very much like the lake in the picture above. While there, my dad, sister, and I were out in a row boat fishing. My dad had just put a nice juicy nightcrawler on my sister's hook. I had just turned back to watch my own bobber when I heard my dad screaming. I turned to see that big nightcrawler hanging from my dad's ear. My sister had hit him with it on her back cast and the tip of the hook had lodged in his ear. Thankfully she froze when he screamed because she was fixing to pierce his ear with her forward cast! I remember me and my sister busting out laughing and within a minute Dad joined in laughing as well.

Besides the funny stories and the fishing and camping. I have so many great memories of living in Japan. Trips to Tokyo Disneyland, visits to the beach, climbing Mt. Fuji, and working our little garden plot by the air field that the base allowed for service members. Japan was also the place where I surrendered my life to Christ. My mother was there to pray with me that night when I realized very clearly that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I put my faith in Jesus Christ that night and committed to follow him for the rest of my life. I wrote the date of my salvation down in an old Bible that I must have misplaced. However, I could have only been seven or eight years old. And I remember understanding very clearly, even at that age, God was all-knowing and all-powerful and I was not. I was committing then, and I knew it, to trusting his wisdom, guidance, and power over my life. 

I am now fifty years old at the time of this writing. So, at this point, I have been following Jesus for over 40 years. It is crazy to see how my faith and relationship with Christ have changed since I started my walk with him that night in Japan. On day one, all I knew was that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. I knew nothing about Jesus being the visible image of the invisible God. I had no clue as to the magnitude of his grace and mercy. I didn't understand the peace that passes understanding. It would take time to understand the power and the majesty of God as I grew in my faith. I would learn to see his faithfulness and his mercy. He would provide wisdom and understanding, and he would never leave my side.

Early in my twenties, I remember running across this verse below from Psalm 37. It was impactful then, but now at fifty, it screams to me of the faithfulness of God over time.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread. - Psalm 37:23-25

Psalm 37 is a psalm of David. David was no stranger to death and war. Initially warding off lions and bears from attacking his father's flock, he turned to warding off giants and Philistines (who were also attacking his Father's "flock," the Israelites). He understood what it was like to be homeless and chased like an animal through miles of wilderness. He understood loss and betrayal. His life was anything but easy. Yet, as he looks back over his life and remembers all its trials and tragedies, he has nothing but praise for God on his lips. Seemingly the least of the sons of Jesse, David had understood God's power and faithfulness at a young age as well. And looking back over it all he testifies, "I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread." In today's vernacular David is saying, "God is good all the time." Amen and amen. 

Likewise, Joshua, having brought the children of Israel into the promised land had witnessed the power of God countless times in his life. Serving Moses, Joshua had seen manna fall from heaven, quail cover an encampment, water flow from a rock, and most recently, the flood waters of the Jordan stand on end so the Israelites could cross. Having crossed the Jordan on dry ground with Jericho on the horizon, Joshua tells twelve men to get stones from the middle of the Jordan and stack them as a memorial to God's goodness and faithfulness.

Then Joshua said to the Israelites, “In the future your children will ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘This is where the Israelites crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the river right before your eyes, and he kept it dry until you were all across, just as he did at the Red Sea when he dried it up until we had all crossed over. He did this so all the nations of the earth might know that the Lord’s hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever.” - Josh 4:21-24

I wrote an article recently about why I write. One reason is to proclaim the goodness and faithfulness of God. These articles are my stones. Erected to give testament to the God who saves. The God who provides. I can testify that for over 50 years he has walked with me through the darkest of nights. He has given me peace in my anxiety, comfort in my grief, and companionship in my loneliness. His mercies are new every morning of which I am incredibly thankful. As is the case with deep gratitude, music often speaks so powerfully where words fail. So, as I look back over the tapestry of my life, the song Evidence by Josh Baldwin comes to mind. The first verse and chorus testify:

All throughout my history
Your faithfulness has walked beside me
The winter storms made way for spring
In every season, from where I'm standing

I see the evidence of Your goodness
All over my life, all over my life
I see Your promises in fulfillment
All over my life, all over my life

Often, this song brings me to tears. I see the Lord's goodness all over my life. I am far from good as I work out my own salvation with fear and trembling through the fits and starts process of sanctification, but I am declared righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ. Even when I am unfaithful, he is always faithful. For that I am thankful on this Thanksgiving day.

What stones have been erected in your life to point to God's faithfulness over time? Maybe it's your marriage. Perhaps God did something that only God could do there. Did he bring a prodigal child home that you prayed over for years? Has he saved you from addiction? Walked with you or healed you from an illness? Maybe he is walking with you now through a difficult season and that is your testimony. Let me know in the comments and let these stones stand as a testimony to God's faithfulness to our families and others who hear our stories.