A couple of weeks ago the VLI program gave us a weekend intensive training on “Healing the whole person” focussing, firstly on the ministry of Jesus and a reminder about the Kingdom of God, but then leading into practical ways to be able to pray with sick people ourselves. I came out of the end of it feeling deeply challenged.
When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”
Genesis 28:16-22Throughout the old testament we see people setting up stones as a reminder - Jacob is a good example, or later as Joshua lead the Israelite people:
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, `What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
Joshua 4:4-7Anyone who passed by these stones would have been told the stories and merely walking past them at a later date would remind a person on the reality of the God that they served.
For a long time now I’ve seen life events as being like those ancient Israelite marker stones. I look back at events like my baptism and the things people prayed & shared with me at that point. I remember more recently when our church was still meeting in Ross Elementary School (so that dates it as about '98 or '99). Our pastor spoke and (without realizing it) took a tour of some of my faith marker stones, so when he gave a call for people to respond and take a next step into leadership I couldnt not go up and speak to him about it. He and a friend (George Ontko) prayed for me at the back of the room, setting up another faith marker stone. My present passage through VLI began in earnest at that point, as it highlighted for me a specific context for the ministry I feel called to.
What challenged me so deeply was how far I have to go back to find marker stones. In the immortal words of Janet Jackson, “What have you done for me lately?”. I dont mean that in the sense that she did, but it’s deeply challenging to me to ask what has God done recently? What good has been done in my own strength (albeit given by Him - all good gifts come from Him afterall) and where has God stepped in and acted?
I play thing too safe. Faith is taking the intellectual knowledge of God and making it something you lean your whole weight on. I know the chair in my office can take my weight but I dont have faith in the chair until I sit down on it. So too with God - I know that He’s sovereign, His word is living and active, and He’s given the church spiritual gifts to bring glory to His name - I know it deeply, I believe it passionately but the faith aspect is missing. Where am I putting my whole weight on the truth? Just how far back to do I have to go before I encounter a faith marker stone?