mile markers

i enjoy driving & going on trips. there is something that happens to me when i get behind the wheel & head out: i become incredibly quiet. it's my time to get in "the zone" & think. my poor wife has gotten used to this & usually brings a book along for any commute over 15 minutes. she must really love me!

now when i'm on a long trip, i usually have some significant places that i feel that i need to make it to - like a state line, a big city, a rest stop. sometimes it can be quite a ways between those places, so the government was brilliant enough to help people like me from going crazy & they put up markers at every mile along the highways. since most states have their exits numbered by what mile they are on that particular highway, with some quick 3rd grade math, you can figure out how much farther you have to go before your 32oz bladder realizes you just drank a 44oz SuperExtraHugeSlushyEnergyNoIce Drink.

i like mile markers in my own life. for me, they help me to see that i'm progressing along in my journey through life. some significant markers in my life have been: my dad dying when i was 16, accepting that God had some BIG plans for my life @ 17, graduation from high school & college, getting married, my first church as a youth pastor, my son being born, me realizing my top 3 passions as a pastor, and the list continues.

each of these markers have huge significance to me. i can look back on each one & see how God guided me, provided, protected, lifted, strengthed, confronted. it's important to have these to make sure we keep moving forward.

In Joshua 3-4, God has Joshua lead the Israelites through the Jordan River into the promised land. God has Joshua get 12 guys to pick up these huge stones out of the middle of the river on their way through. Once all of the Israelites made it into the promised land, they piled up those rocks where they slept that night.

Joshua explained to the people (vs 6-7) "We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future, your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?' Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord's covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a permnant memorial among the people of Israel." It goes on to say in verse 9 that at the time of the writing of the book of Joshua, that "the memorial remains there to this day."

God didn't want the significant events of one generation be forgotten by the next or to be forgotten by those that lived it! the same thing is true in our lives! the markers in our journey need to be remembered for the fact that God was there with us and He will continue to be with us on this journey. Now the question is: have you past any markers lately?

do you have some major mile markers in your life that God reminds you of?