March 3 | Visit the Past

The psalmist cries to God in desperation, and something unexpected happens—he remembers. He remembers with great delight those times of spiritual refreshment in Jerusalem. His mind takes him back to when he joined others in celebrating and praising God and his goodness. By remembering what God has done for him in the past, he builds trust in the present. But this practice of remembering didn’t start with the psalmist. God has always told his people to look back and remember his goodness (Deuteronomy 7:18).

In our times of difficulty and struggle, we can also build trust by remembering God’s goodness to us in the past. Watch this video clip as Pastor Jeff Manion tells us we can renew our confidence by remembering times of spiritual intimacy and great joy. Maybe it was the week of summer camp where God first became real as we trusted in Jesus. That Easter service when we understood the power of Jesus’ resurrection. Perhaps it was a weekend retreat where God began to heal deep hurts or a particular baptism service.

Sometimes our spiritual past stays in the past. We know God has done great things for us, but we keep those memories in a spiritual “photo album” on the shelf. Sometimes we need to grab that album and look through the photos of our spiritual past. Memories we can use to build trust in God today.