Stones of Remembrance: God Speaks to Us

In the beginning of the book of Joshua (in the Bible), we learn that Moses is dead and at God’s appointment, Joshua was now to lead the Israelites the rest of the way into the Promise Land-Caanan. He was exhorted to stay rooted in God’s Word, to be strong, and to be courageous. Joshua sent some of his men to observe or canvas Jericho where it was determined that surely God had given them that land. In order to get to the land, the Israelites would have to cross the Jordan. As He did with the Red Sea when He delivered the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, God parted the waters of the Jordan for them to cross. As God spoke to Joshua, Joshua spoke to the Israelites saying,

Photo credit: Michael Joens, February 2019

“Pass on before the ark of the Lord your Go into the midst of the Jordan and take up each of you a stone upon is shoulder, according to the number of tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you.  When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to You?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.  When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.  So, these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

We may not have actual stones, but we do have our “stones of remembrance”, don’t we? Our photos that we take. Souvenirs that we get from a trip. Our stories. Recently, I was listening to an “old” song (2015) by Big Daddy Weave called “My Story”. I realized that I never really paid much attention to the lyrics. It contains some familiar lyrics from the popular hymn, “Blessed Assurance” by Fanny Crosby.  But one line stood out to me, “. . .To tell my story is to tell of Him”.  So, that is my hope in the next few posts-to tell some (more) of my stories thereby telling you of my Savior.  This serves two purposes-to remind myself of the ways God has worked in my life and is therefore trustworthy and to point you to Christ, my Savior.

Several years ago, I was, in essence, throwing a temper tantrum before the Lord.  I believed God was calling me to do a particular thing and things were not working out the way I had anticipated. I felt like I had spent a long time walking in a direction that God had not called me to as a result of me not deciphering “His voice and His direction for me” correctly. I was angry at myself and I was asking God to speak clearly to me, in a way I would clearly understand. I went on about my business. I felt better after I “vented” and felt like that was an answer to my prayer. God’s Word tells us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us (I Peter 5:7). Now, in this passage, the Apostle Peter is speaking to elders who are trying to lead their people as they are being persecuted. He is encouraging them to walk in humility and to remain in prayer, reminding them that God loves them. Getting frustrated that I’m not hearing God correctly hardly qualifies as persecution, but God does desire us to go to Him with everything. And so, I did just that.

Well, that night while I slept, the Lord put the last name of an elementary school classmate on my mind in a way that was impossible to ignore.  The thing about this classmate is that he has an unusual last name. We knew each other back in 3rd/4th grade (40+ years ago) and I have never met or heard of anyone else with that last name. Although we had some of the same friends in common, I’m not sure we would have necessarily called ourselves friends.  I do remember noticing, at some point, that when we moved from elementary school to middle school, he was not there. I figured he moved and that was the end of that. But, for some reason, the Lord impressed upon that I should try to reach out to him-to find out if he knew the Lord and if not, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with him. It was the strangest thing.

I thought my husband would think I was weird, but he always said, “If God calls you to do something, you must do it”. Like I said, his last name was unusual, so I was able to locate him. I was living in Washington (state) and he was living in Michigan, at the time.  I’m a huge proponent of journaling, so I printed our email exchange and stapled it in my journal as a stone of remembrance. This is how it went…

Me: Good morning! This sounds very bizarre, but just humor me for a bit. My name is Malaika (Gulliford) Ware and I went to school with you in Indianapolis. We went to Crooked Creek Elementary School together. I grew up living between Michigan Road and Knollton Road in Indianapolis and I know you did not live far from me.  I wouldn’t call us friends, but we knew the same people.

Okay, this is where it gets bizarre. Out of the blue (actually while I was sleeping), your last name came to mind. Naturally, I kept wondering why your last name was coming to my mind. Then of course, I put it together with your first name, but still wondering why your name was in my head. And I must admit, I’m still not sure, but what I did was I started praying for you. I prayed that God would keep you (and your family, if you have one) safe; that He would strengthen you to do what it is you are to do; and that you would be drawn close to God through a personal relation with His Son, Jesus (if you don’t already have one).  I went ahead and “Googled” your name to see if I could find an email address (obviously, I found one) for you. I had decided that if I was not able to contact you, I would just continue to pray for you.  Since I did find it, I thought I would touch base with you and let you know that I am praying for you. Again, I know this is really bizarre, but I just wanted to let you know that someone is praying for you.

Him: Not as bizarre as you might think.  I do remember you. I too am a fervent prayer and have been wrestling the past few months with my role in God’s plans.  I have been praying for reassurance of His presence and direction.  I actually left church on Sunday doubting my faith and really wondering what I am on earth for.  Your note only confirms that God is very much alive and present in our lives, hears our prayers and answers them.  This morning, I prayed specifically that God show himself to me and reaffirm my belief in Him. I cannot tell you how much your note means to me and thank you for your prayers and courage to seek me out and share this story.

Can you believe that? I was astonished, to say the very least! I was also reminded of several truths that day…that in His kindness,

God hears us.

God speaks to us.

God most definitely loves us.

God honors obedience.

This happened over 15 years ago and I am still amazed by it! When I feel as though my prayers have gone no higher than the ceiling and I wonder if God is speaking to me, I remember this occasion. I remember that God never speaks something that contradicts His Word, but that He does speak to us in a way that we understand. Our job is to listen, trust, and obey.