I love to look back on my life, seasons of joy and hardship alike, and see how God faithfully orchestrated what I needed. One of the ways I keep track of these seasons is through my writing, whether in a personal journal or a piece of writing for others to see. Much of our lives are lived at high speed, and if we don’t consciously stop and pause, we can take for granted what and where we are in God’s plan for our lives.
If you’re like me, you wake up and move through the day with your to-do list in hand and, when the day is done, you wind down by thinking of what is coming up for the next morning. This cyclical thinking can lead to a feeling of self-sufficiency and weariness if we are not careful. Do you find it hard to sit in the moment, look around at what God is doing or has done, and reflect on His faithfulness?
If so, I am here to highlight four ways to help you reflect on God’s faithfulness through the seasons of your life:
As I stated earlier, journaling is a way that I enjoy reflecting. As a writer and author, I’ll admit that if I don’t keep up the pace, typing out the last 3-6 months’ worth of happenings can be a daunting task and feel more like writing a biography than sharing a reflection piece. Be careful not to turn your journaling into a bullet point of facts, but sit with your entry for a moment and think about what is happening and where you were a year ago. I find that writing often helps keep my entries smaller and more personal. I experience what I call "Godwink moments" in life where I feel God talking to me and giving me nudges to make certain decisions and choices. I love to note those in my journal with dates, which encourages me, in moments of feeling forgotten, just how God sees me in the everyday routine of life, reminding me that I need to become more aware of these moments.
The fact that we have God’s Word written down for us to see His faithfulness and read His promises to His children is also astounding! I love how God would use writing to help people remember His rules and specifications, as we see in His interaction with Moses, “Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel'” (Exodus 34:27). We see the faithfulness of God through the New Testament and how each author listened to God and wrote Jesus’ words down for us to have in our hearts. This helps solidify how important writing things down can be for us and our future selves.
In this day of technology, everyone can take a picture and, if you’re like me, you have to consciously decide when you won’t take one so you can enjoy the moment more. Even though pictures can take away from the spontaneity of the moment, I also think they are great visual reminders of God’s faithfulness in certain events of our lives. I am so grateful I have pictures with my loved ones during holidays, from my childhood, and of beautiful landscapes and places I’ve been fortunate to visit on vacation. I'm grateful I have visually documented important milestones in my life. For example, when I self-published my very first devotional, you better believe I took a picture of me holding my dream come true.
These picture moments, as staged or authentic as you like, can be visual representations of God’s faithfulness, our growth, and our relationships with each other. Whether you publish that picture on social or not, it still holds the same power. I love looking through candid photos of my teenage years, way before the online world existed, and seeing how God helped me to mature into the woman I am today. Don’t neglect to capture the special moments for your future self to remember God’s blessings.
To see how God has worked in our lives we must be humble enough to admit our eternal dependence on Him. There are too many pressures in this world to try to be self-sustaining, to take credit for success, and to think of ourselves first. Humility, as it is famously defined, is not thinking less of ourselves but truly thinking about ourselves less. The Bible instructs us to be humble as we see in Colossians 3:12: “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”
Humility leaves us dependent on God’s faithful plan and purpose in our lives. Remembering that we need Him more than He needs us helps us reflect more gratefully on His faithfulness to us every day. We are also reminded that each of us is weak and human and that allows us to have more grace with each other as we are called to love one another regardless. If you are in a season of success, remember that you can be just one bad decision or happenstance from a season of failure. Both success and failure can be scary if your reliance is built on yourself and not on God’s provision and faithful protection and guidance.
In human relationships, if communication lessens between two people, their relationships naturally dwindle or become less intimate and candid. Just think about the people you talk to the most often and then consider how free you feel with them when you are talking, asking a question, or even just spending time with them. It’s the consistency that helps keep the memories of past times and conversations alive.
Keeping your prayer life with God as your number one priority will help you reflect on His faithfulness to you. Reading His Word regularly keeps the Holy Spirit stirring in your soul, and the longing you have to talk and commune with God will keep growing. Don’t be afraid to communicate your fears and hopes to God. He wants to talk with you, lead you, and remind you of His promises. God can be funny too in how He shows up for you in ways you never dreamed of. And when you notice it, it’s like a spotlight shines on how much He cares for you and how faithful He is to His children. As David reminds us in Psalm 57:9-11, reflecting on God’s faithfulness in our lives and sharing it with others lifts His name and glory for all to see: “I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Ziga Plahutar