Making a list of times God has done things for you
Hope everyone is doing well!
Today I wanted to share something that I used to think most people already knew (or were doing). But lately, I’m learning so many haven’t done this powerful thing.
Anyway, I’m presuming you already have a prayer list. (Oh, you don’t? Well, you should. 🤣 Just start a doc in Google Drive or on your phone and review it as you can — daily if you can. You’ll be shocked how often you forget to pray for the very people that you SHOULD be praying for. The prayer list will help; and it usually causes me to reach out to the person in love and ask for an update on their health situation. Or just check in with love and kindness.)
But the main list I wanted to talk about today is a list I’ve named, “Things God has done for me.”
I once read, “Don’t ever lose the awe of what God has done for you,” and I couldn’t really shake that. And so I started a list.
The list includes meeting my wife, landing a job, but also some HUGE stuff. Like, nearly wrecking two times on the interstate while doing over 70. (Once, nearly hitting a parked car on the side; another time hitting some ice and snow and nearly flying across the grass median into oncoming traffic of 70 MPH.)
I KNOW God saved my life on both of those days. 1,000 percent. We’re talking adrenaline pumping afterward and God absolutely reminding me that my time wasn’t up.
I guarantee you have times like that, too.
Write. Them. Down. (Date them if you can; they make it more real; and details matter — some of mine are a paragraph long.)
Sometimes, when I’m struggling to feel the presence of God, I just start reading the list. And usually, I’m nearly in tears by the end and I’m in the presence of God again.
It’s like God is saying, thank you for remembering, my son.
If you read much of the Old Testament at all, you know how many times God commands his people to remember all he’s done for them.
And I’m not talking about simple gratitude here. Not just a roof over your head.
I’m talking crossing the Red Sea events. I’m talking medical miracles. Times you thought you’d lost a love one. BIG things.
Like the time God kept me from falling off the side of a mountain in South Korea, when my shoulder nearly dislocated again.
Or the time God kept me from nearly shooting a bodyguard of an Ambassador in Albania, who was exiting an unmarked car near me with an AK on his shoulder.
Has God not saved you from a near divorce?
Has God not healed you from a really-bad medical outlook?
Has God not divinely interceded in your life in events that make the word “coincidence” work REALLY HARD?!
Write these things down. Ponder on them. Thank God for them!!
I think it’ll help you. Over and over again as you do it. And even better, you’ll find yourself adding more and more items to the list (some of which you had forgotten), and as you do, and as you re-read the list, you’ll fall further and further into the arms of God.
Our Father is waiting on you. Will you honor Him and approach His magnificent throne today?
To God be the glory,
Stan R. Mitchell
Don’t forget: You can comment anytime, and I’ll do my best to answer thoughtfully! You can also reach out privately at: authorstanrmitchell@yahoo.com. (You can say “hi,” tell me your story, or ask questions! I love all three of those things!)
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When my oldest daughter was about ten months old, I fell down our basement stairs while carrying her. I held on to her as tightly as I could, but towards the bottom of the stairs she rolled out of my arms and onto a thin mat covering the concrete floor. Funny thing was, her little body landed on the mat incredibly slowly, as if she was being set down gently by someone. She never cried or acted afraid, and when I picked her up and examined her I found zero marks or bruises. She was happy and fine.
I, on the other hand, had scratches and bruises all down my back, but it could have been way worse.
I always tell her she had an Angel then and that she still does today. My younger daughter also has a miracle story that I tell, and there are so many more times that God has been there whether I knew it at the time or not.