Every Christian should periodically have some flashbacks regarding the goodness of God and how far He has brought us. We should be able to recognize the advancements, successes, and failures we have made on our spiritual journey as well as in our personal lives. I admonish you today to pause and reflect on your life and determine how God has orchestrated it. Hopefully and prayerfully, your flashbacks will bring great joy to you on this day.
A memory revisited is one of the definitions given for flashback. It is an opportunity for us to remember something back in time. Flashbacks is just a way of saying we should remember those times in the past when God came through for us. The psalmist in Psalm 77: 11 says, “I will remember the works of the Lord.” Earlier the psalmist said, I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Yet, the psalmist understood who had intervened on his behalf before, and he continues to rely on his God.
Can you remember tumultuous times in your past when you just did not know how you were going to make it, but God showed up? Can you remember the times he showed up and made a way out of no way? Can you look back over your life and say, “If it had not been for the Lord on my side, I don’t know where I would be or what I would be doing?” Maybe even today we are struggling with some issues that just won’t go away. If so, go to God in prayer and ask for discernment in figuring it all out.
As disobedient as the Israelites were in the Old Testament, the one thing they could do was to have flashbacks regarding their God. If they lost sight of the past, God used his prophets to remind them. Some of the feasts the Lord commanded Israel to celebrate was a reminder of what He had done for them in the past. There is an expectation that we would have flashbacks and remember how God intervened on our behalf. Throughout the Old Testament, altars were built as a reminder of what miracles God had performed.
In Genesis, God called Jacob to go to Bethel. Jacob said, “I will make thee an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way in which I went” (Genesis 35:3). Jacob’s flashback is a reminder of how God protected Jacob and allowed him to prosper. Are we in a position today that we can remember how God protected and covered us with His right hand.
As I write this message, I am having flashbacks that date back to my earlier years through the present. There were some difficult times, but never was there anything that was too hard for God. All of us have had different experiences, and your breakthrough may have been much different than mine. What is important for us to remember is that whatever our circumstance was, it was God who directed our steps and brought us through. I just can’t help but give God praises and thanks for what he has done, is doing and about to do.
Remember how life was before you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There were things we did in that past that now causes us to have chill bumps. When we allow God to take charge of our lives, we can fully enjoy peace and joy. Just stop and imagine what life was like before you met Jesus and committed your life to him. Now that you are a believer in Jesus, it does not dismiss us from having trouble in our lives, yet we know who to go to for our strength and protection.
The hope is that your flashbacks will not cause distress or havoc in your life, rather a reminder of how you became victorious with the help of our God.
It is hoped that your flashbacks will give you peace and cause us to bless God even more! Remember, when we bless God, He blesses us!
Just my thoughts!
Robert Earl Slade, Pastor
