A couple years ago, I went on vacation with my husband and the trip was filled with stones and stories. These stones and stories represented significant people, world events, victories in war, marathon winners, and basically anything people from the past wanted us to remember today.
At every stone and statue were tour guides telling large groups of tourists the stories that went with them.
While we were in Boston, we stopped at this statue and the tour guide said, “I’ve been a tour guide in Boston for 25 years and I have seen this statue go unnoticed. No one saw it important enough to take a picture with, and, honestly, people didn’t even know who it was.” He continued, “But six months ago, the Broadway play came out and now it’s ALL people can talk about, and now this is ONE OF THEE MOST photographed statues in the U.S. all because people started talking about this man again!” You want to take a guess who it was? The statue was Hamilton! Alexander Hamilton.
That is the power of storytelling! Only until someone dusted off Hamilton’s story and started retelling it in a beautiful way did people start taking interest in it again.
So, my question is—when people ask us about our God, our faith, our church … what stories are we telling and how are we telling them?
Let’s go back to the OT (the Old Testament). Have you read the Old Testament recently? Give yourself the gift this Christmas of giving the Old Testament a read! It’s so good! Today I’m going to be paraphrasing and highlighting certain points from Joshua chapters 1-4, but I encourage you to go read those chapters in addition to reading this article—you will be blessed!
Starting with Joshua 1:1-2, we see no sugar coating here. God is straight up with Joshua by saying, Moses is dead.
These three words are enough to truly grip the heart. Moses was the nation’s leader for over 40 years. He led the nation out of slavery and bondage from the Egyptians, he journeyed with them in the wilderness, and whether things were good, bad, or ugly, Moses always directed their eyes back to God. But now he died right before the nation was about to cross over the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land.
Before they cross over, God gives them a few instructions. And not like Siri instructions. Siri gives us the fastest, safest route, giving us every step-in advance and shows us where we can find a Starbucks along the way. God’s instructions are higher than our ways and higher than Siri’s ways. When God gives instructions to His people before a time of transition, He gives heart instructions. And in this case, before they are to cross the Jordan River, they go a little something like this:
- Prepare your hearts for what I am about to do.
- Let Me go first and follow Me in faith.
- Pick up stones along the way and share your salvation stories.
This is such a good Word for Joshua and the Israelites. But what does this have to do with us as believers today?
We are all about to transition into a new year, the year 2025. And although may not be a lot of changes from December 31st to January 1st, there is a great opportunity to be embraced in the close of one year and the opening of another. I believe that opportunity is for us as believers in Jesus to follow these same three heart instructions that God gave His people back then.
1. Prepare Our Hearts for What God is About to Do (Joshua 1)
Before crossing into the Promised Land, Joshua commands the people to get their hearts ready, to prepare their hearts for what God is going to do for them, so they do not miss the miracle!
Similarly, we are able to come boldly before the throne and ask Jesus to position our hearts so we don’t miss what He’s about to do in us individually and as a church. Now is the time to get our hearts in alignment with His will and prepare for the goodness of God in the new year ahead. Let’s not miss the miracle!
2. Let God Go First & Move Forward in Faith (Joshua 3)
The Israelites face the Jordan River—an obstacle that seems impossible to cross. But God instructs Joshua to tell the priests to step into the river with the ark of the covenant, and, as they do, the waters of the Jordan get pushed aside. The Israelites walk through on dry ground, a miraculous revealing of God’s power, promise, and provision.
Just as God parted the Red Sea and parted the Jordan River, God is able to make a way for us in THIS generation, too. Our part is to let Him go first and we simply step forward in faith. Because even when we don’t know what the future holds, we know who holds our future. Dude, Yes and Amen to that!
3. Pick Up Stones Along the Way and Share Our Salvation Stories (Joshua 4)
Finally, the people are instructed to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River and set them up as a memorial. These stones represent God’s faithfulness in bringing them through the river and into the Promised Land. These stones represent how God keeps His promises—He’s a man of His word.
For us, let’s carry the “stones” of God’s faithfulness from 2024, moments where God showed up; moments where God pulled through for us; moments where God went into the pit with us; moments of victory; moments of healing; moments of growth, moments of provision; moments where God showed up in the nick of time.
These are the million little miracle moments that we can hold onto as we step into the new year.
Reader, Friend, Believer,
When people ask us about our God, our faith, our church, what stories are we telling? And how are we storytelling?
Are we telling them the list of things Adventists don’t do? Or are we telling the stories of why we are jazzed and blessed to be Adventists?
Are we telling stories that make it seem like our God is still in the grave? Or are we telling stories that show our God is alive and active?
As we wrap up 2024 and open up 2025, let’s position our hearts in expectation and faith for what God is about to do in us, through us, and for us. Let’s be in a heart posture of anticipation and courage, ready for what God has in store for us as individuals, as families, and as a church!
Let’s allow God to go ahead of us every step of the way—let Him be our Waymaker—trusting that He will make a way even when the path ahead seems dark, uncertain and impossible. Why? Because, yes, nothing is impossible for our God.
Let’s carry our stones of remembrance and share our salvation stories from this recent year, giving hope and encouragement to one another that we have a God who does not slumber or sleep, He’s not on vacation, and He’s certainly no longer in the grave—that’s right, we serve a RISEN God who is fully alive and active.
If we truly believe our God is no longer dead, let’s start telling stories like He’s alive.
Mollie Dupper is the associate pastor at Boulder Seventh-day Adventist Church. Email her at: [email protected]