Standing Stones

Throughout my life, I’ve had many “God moments”—times in which God did something unexplainable that became a watershed moment in the story of my life. Perhaps you’ve had similar stories. These are the moments we call to mind when we’re going through a tough spiritual season where God can seem distant, and we yearn to feel his presence again. In fact, Scripture commands us to recall our God stories:

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
   yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will ponder all your work,
   and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Psalm 77:11-12

In the Old Testament, these God stories were often memorialized in stone. Way back in Genesis 28, Jacob is on the run from his brother Esau. If you recall, Jacob had deceived his father Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing, and when Esau found out, Jacob had to flee for his life. In verse 11, Jacob finds a place to rest for the night and chooses to lie down with a stone for a pillow. (When I was growing up, I always remember thinking what an odd choice this was—how uncomfortable!) But that night, God speaks to Jacob in a dream, bestowing the Abrahamic Covenant to him. As if the blessing of Jacob’s father Isaac hadn’t been enough, now God himself had promised to bless Jacob. And his response?

Verse 18:

“¹⁸ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.”

Seems kind of random, huh? What’s going on here?

In short, Jacob is memorializing this God-moment by erecting a monument and giving it a new name—Luz means “almond tree.” Bethel means “house of God.” This was no longer to be remembered as a place to find a big nut tree—it was the place Jacob experienced God.

Many Christians today memorialize their God-moments too, just in a different way. Perhaps we journal about a particular moment or frame a photo having to do with a big event in our life. Sometimes, we even refer to places based on what God did there. For instance, I vividly remember where I was when God called me to ministry, and every time I drive past it, my mind goes right back to that moment.

If you’ve never done anything to tangibly record your God moments, consider what you could do the next time you’re there. Those mountain-top moments breathe life into our spiritual life. But sometimes they come few and far between. So, if today you find yourself in one of those valleys, remember to remember. Remembering can get you out of a funk and onto your knees in worship.