Flashbacks and remembering
You know all those tropes in movies and tv shows where they use flashbacks to help the characters solve their problems, or to help them remember something from their past. Maybe it’s the tragic backstory that is the reason they became a superhero, or villain. Or maybe it’s the words of a mentor that give the character the strength to keep moving. Whatever it is, it’s pretty common for characters to flash back to the things of their past, and in certain times, it’s important for us to.
This sort of thing would have been good for the Israelites, as they often forgot the ways God moves in their lives. They were constantly complaining about their circumstances, creating and worshiping false idols, and putting their focus on the things of the world, rather than things of God. It blows my mind all the time to think of all the miracles they witnessed with their own eyes, and yet they forgot those supernatural moments and turned to worship false gods. From my outside perspective, I like to think that I’m above that, and the Israelites were simply stupid. But in reality I have these moments as well. We all have times where we forget to “flashback” to the past where God has moved in our lives. In church, there was a point where the theme of remembering what God had done kept coming up. Looking back on that now, I realize God was trying to get our church in the habit of remembering Him so that we would be empowered through this season. Remembering the things He has done gives us the strength to keep moving forward when everything is crumbling around us. We may not even know what the next hour has in store for us, but God has already shown himself, all we have to do is wait on Him with the expectation that He will continue to move in our lives. Taking the time to flashback also helps us to pause, and grow our faith and trust in Him. We know because He’s already proven His love for us, we don’t have to concern ourselves with the worries of the world. We as His children have the assurance that His hand is upon us in all things as long as we are in Him.
If your peace of mind has been effected at all by the events happening around us, now would be a good time to stop and remember. Flashback to the times God was with you and moved in your life. Write all those things down, that way it’s easier to remember. Once you’ve done that, meditate on how God has moved in you and ask yourself if you can expect Him to move in your life again. If He did miracles then, why can’t He do them now?
I want to finish this little post by sharing a recent flashback of my own. The more time passes, the more I see how God has kept me and fought my battles. So not too long ago, I was really struggling. My job felt more stressful than normal and my eczema had flared up so bad that I was coming to the end of everything I had. I was praying for healing and waiting for God to move and restore my health. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even paying attention to the stress from work piling up until it all hit me at once. My skin felt awful, I hated my job, and one night I just felt like giving up. I didn’t understand why God hadn’t healed me, even though I had been praying and believing for a month straight. Then next day at work, I was at one of my lowest points. I don’t know how many times that day I had told people I didn’t really care about whatever they did. I just didn’t have it in me and didn’t know what else to do.
Then came Sunday (God has moved in several ways in this situation) where after the service I had told my pastor that I was hoping to get Sunday’s off soon. Since August I’ve been going to church and then going to work right after. For me, this was hard to do so I was wanting to get Sunday’s off for a little bit. On top of that at the time my church was preparing to move to two services. So overall it was better if I could have Sunday off. That Monday I went to work thinking everything was going to be as it always was. But a supervisor stopped by and asked to talk to me. Apparently there was a problem at one of the other locations between the assistant and the general manager. The assistant threatened to quit if she didn’t get transferred to a different location, and the supervisor was hoping I would be willing to switch with her.
Now this was the answer to the job stress at the time, but the added bonus was that I could have Sunday’s off and it started the day our church switched to two services! God moved on my behalf, for something that I wasn’t even praying for, a battle I wasn’t fighting for myself, but he also moved on behalf of the church and made a way for something He had asked us to do. On top of that, my skin also cleared up!
At that time, I thought that was it, but not too long afterwards, things happened and my brother-in-law and my sister were hired at my new location. I didn’t think much about this other than my brother -in-law was able to get more hours than his previous job, which was good for his family. But now with all the COVID-19 stuff, I realized I was moved so that he could get a job that would provide him with more hours and was less likely to shut down in the midst of the craziness. He shouldn’t have even been allowed to be hired as the last time he left the company it wasn’t in good standing, and yet God moves in our lives and allowed him to get the job.
The more I think about it, the more I see where God was with me. About a month or two ago, I wanted to quit my job and try to start my own business. But when I prayed to ask God I I could quit, I just felt God tell me to have patience, trust in him, and keep dreaming for when it was time. Now I can see the wisdom in the answer I received from God. I still have my job, which I am grateful for, and I know I can trust God when He speaks.
As I said before, all of this was to encourage you to get in the habit of remembering what God has done for you, and to share with you that God is still moving. Find peace in all the panic and know that God is with you, and he’s fighting your battles. Just trust in him and cast all your burdens on him.
This sort of thing would have been good for the Israelites, as they often forgot the ways God moves in their lives. They were constantly complaining about their circumstances, creating and worshiping false idols, and putting their focus on the things of the world, rather than things of God. It blows my mind all the time to think of all the miracles they witnessed with their own eyes, and yet they forgot those supernatural moments and turned to worship false gods. From my outside perspective, I like to think that I’m above that, and the Israelites were simply stupid. But in reality I have these moments as well. We all have times where we forget to “flashback” to the past where God has moved in our lives. In church, there was a point where the theme of remembering what God had done kept coming up. Looking back on that now, I realize God was trying to get our church in the habit of remembering Him so that we would be empowered through this season. Remembering the things He has done gives us the strength to keep moving forward when everything is crumbling around us. We may not even know what the next hour has in store for us, but God has already shown himself, all we have to do is wait on Him with the expectation that He will continue to move in our lives. Taking the time to flashback also helps us to pause, and grow our faith and trust in Him. We know because He’s already proven His love for us, we don’t have to concern ourselves with the worries of the world. We as His children have the assurance that His hand is upon us in all things as long as we are in Him.
If your peace of mind has been effected at all by the events happening around us, now would be a good time to stop and remember. Flashback to the times God was with you and moved in your life. Write all those things down, that way it’s easier to remember. Once you’ve done that, meditate on how God has moved in you and ask yourself if you can expect Him to move in your life again. If He did miracles then, why can’t He do them now?
I want to finish this little post by sharing a recent flashback of my own. The more time passes, the more I see how God has kept me and fought my battles. So not too long ago, I was really struggling. My job felt more stressful than normal and my eczema had flared up so bad that I was coming to the end of everything I had. I was praying for healing and waiting for God to move and restore my health. Meanwhile, I wasn’t even paying attention to the stress from work piling up until it all hit me at once. My skin felt awful, I hated my job, and one night I just felt like giving up. I didn’t understand why God hadn’t healed me, even though I had been praying and believing for a month straight. Then next day at work, I was at one of my lowest points. I don’t know how many times that day I had told people I didn’t really care about whatever they did. I just didn’t have it in me and didn’t know what else to do.
Then came Sunday (God has moved in several ways in this situation) where after the service I had told my pastor that I was hoping to get Sunday’s off soon. Since August I’ve been going to church and then going to work right after. For me, this was hard to do so I was wanting to get Sunday’s off for a little bit. On top of that at the time my church was preparing to move to two services. So overall it was better if I could have Sunday off. That Monday I went to work thinking everything was going to be as it always was. But a supervisor stopped by and asked to talk to me. Apparently there was a problem at one of the other locations between the assistant and the general manager. The assistant threatened to quit if she didn’t get transferred to a different location, and the supervisor was hoping I would be willing to switch with her.
Now this was the answer to the job stress at the time, but the added bonus was that I could have Sunday’s off and it started the day our church switched to two services! God moved on my behalf, for something that I wasn’t even praying for, a battle I wasn’t fighting for myself, but he also moved on behalf of the church and made a way for something He had asked us to do. On top of that, my skin also cleared up!
At that time, I thought that was it, but not too long afterwards, things happened and my brother-in-law and my sister were hired at my new location. I didn’t think much about this other than my brother -in-law was able to get more hours than his previous job, which was good for his family. But now with all the COVID-19 stuff, I realized I was moved so that he could get a job that would provide him with more hours and was less likely to shut down in the midst of the craziness. He shouldn’t have even been allowed to be hired as the last time he left the company it wasn’t in good standing, and yet God moves in our lives and allowed him to get the job.
The more I think about it, the more I see where God was with me. About a month or two ago, I wanted to quit my job and try to start my own business. But when I prayed to ask God I I could quit, I just felt God tell me to have patience, trust in him, and keep dreaming for when it was time. Now I can see the wisdom in the answer I received from God. I still have my job, which I am grateful for, and I know I can trust God when He speaks.
As I said before, all of this was to encourage you to get in the habit of remembering what God has done for you, and to share with you that God is still moving. Find peace in all the panic and know that God is with you, and he’s fighting your battles. Just trust in him and cast all your burdens on him.
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