God and You: A Faith History Worth Remembering - Part III

In this powerful episode, uncover God's presence in your personal faith journey through intentional reflection. Use a practical three-part process for identifying divine encounters in your past - especially during times when you felt God was absent. The essential elements of reflection practice include how to:

• Surrender preconceptions and observe past events with fresh eyes
• Gather evidence of God's involvement in challenging situations
• Transform difficult situations and trials into anchors of hope
• Use Isaiah 46:9 as a foundation for strengthening faith during difficult times

This episode provides a structured approach using the "God Showed Up Tracker" - a tool designed to help you describe significant life events, examine evidence of God's presence, and potentially redefine your understanding of these experiences. Whether you're currently facing uncertainty or want to deepen your faith journey, this episode offers practical guidance for recognizing God's faithful presence in your life story.

Download the God Showed Up Tracker mentioned in this episode to begin documenting your own faith history. Connect with us on YouTube at Anchored Not Anxious for video devotions, or find us on Facebook at Terri L. Hutchinson's page.

By subscribing to the Anchored Not Anxious CareLetter you will be uplifted, encouraged, and reminded to show yourself self-compassion. Get devotions, evidence-based resources, anchoring practices, self-help book recommendations, and receive the love of Jesus. Thank you for listening!

Transcript

This is Part 3 of God and You, A Faith History Worth Remembering. In this episode, I walk you through the elements of a reflection practice to find when, where, and how God showed up in your past.  In the Old and New Testaments, God asks us to remember our history with the Lord, for He knows questions and doubts will surge as you manage stressful events. 

Isaiah 46:9 says, Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God. I am God and there is none like me. Remembering keeps you steady while you linger in the silence, the waiting, and dark hours. 

We want the power to overcome fear, regret, helplessness, or anxiety. When we are unemployed, our house is destroyed, our beloved passes away, or mounting stress is pulling us into a pit. So, when you cry out, God, do you see me? Do you hear me? The Holy Spirit will bring forth a “God with you” memory.  The memory of God with you in the past revitalizes hope and reassures. 

In Part II, I stated I wrote about my days of unemployment and how God met me in it.  I deliberately reflected on that situation and embedded the experience as a historical marker in my mind. And on paper, five years later, I used that God with me marker to cement my trust as I waited for his direction.

 Here's three benefits of reflection.  

1.  Reflection reveals God's presence. Such memories form your faith history with him.
2. Knowing your faith history with God. Renews hope and grounds your trust in God.
3. When the present is painful or filled with uncertainty, focus on these nine words from Isaiah 46. Remember the things I have done in the past. This is your strength. 

Remind yourself God's presence is active and working, even though you may not see it.  Of course, your trust in the Lord faces challenges from the enemy. Each time you assert your trust, Satan responds with fiery statements of doubt.  All the more reason to reach for your faith history with God and anchor your soul during the worst. 

Invoking a memory of God with you helps you rise when you believe you cannot.  For some of you, life's most difficult situations left you questioning God's motives and intent.  You could not find God acting and moving on your behalf.  It's a sickening feeling that births anger and despair,  but I ask that you muster the courage to challenge your belief God was absent or uninvolved as it may direct you to a path of healing. 

I have worked through reflection processes several times in my life, twice with a licensed counselor. Traumatic situations are always best discussed. with a professional counselor.  Otherwise, enter into reflection and be mindful of your emotions and inner mindset. The purpose of reflection is to help, not harm.   

There are two important elements of a reflection practice. 

1.    Surrender your current perception of the situation. 

2.    Become a neutral observer.  

The natural response is to resist setting aside a current perception. You hold this belief for a reason and to relinquish it may take time.  The purpose of surrendering your perception is so you can step into the shoes of one who is a neutral observer.

A surrendered heart and mind tells the Holy Spirit you are open to considering new possibilities and insights.  Your reflection goal is finding God with you and for you at a time you believe he was absent.  You are not second guessing the decisions you made during that time. There's no judgment or self condemnation.

Your goal is identifying evidence.  In your search for evidence, you must want to give God the credit.  For example,  let's say you didn't know how to get the money to buy food. And then, someone showed up with three bags of groceries.  You can assign this to luck, or coincidence, or to God working on your behalf. 

Why not choose to believe God influenced the giver?  Let the Lord show you how He aligned events, opportunities, and people.  If you're ready to go on this adventure with God, let's look at the God Showed Up tracker. Go to the episode description to find a download link.  The tracker has three parts. 

• Describe your life event
• Develop the evidence
• Reconsider and redefine the life event 

Part one, describe the life event.  Too often we go through a significant life situation and never reflect on the markers revealing God's active presence.  Describing the life event allows you to paint a picture of thoughts, emotions, and behavior surrounding that time. 

Be as detailed as possible.  Then you will rate how much you believe God showed up in that situation. 

Part two is develop the evidence. In this section, you will provide evidence supporting why you believe God was not there.  And, you'll develop evidence that God was with you.  As you work through the evidence against God, Reflect on the event as if you're that outside observer.

Answer the following. 

• Describe how God let you down or failed to show up. 
• Describe the promise God failed to keep.  
• How did God specifically ignore or abandon you?  

Now, as you search for evidence of God with you, ask these questions.  

• Who or what caused a low point to become a better one? 
• Who or what made you feel seen, heard, or comforted? 
• What could have made the situation worse, but it did not happen? 
• Did someone or something arrive just in time?  
• Can you find one thing pointing to God as one working on your behalf?  
• Did the situation provide you with a personal growth moment?  

Part three is redefining the life event. In this section, you will review the evidence for and against God.

Because perspectives shift with time, you may see new insights. Be willing to receive a new understanding that you could not see or comprehend while you were going through the situation.  

• Ask yourself if you were expecting God to provide an on demand performance.  
• If this event happened to a friend, what advice would you give to them based on this evidence? 
• Is it possible to believe God was present with you and for you at some point during the situation? 

And then, you will re rate your belief as to whether God was with you. Remember the things God has done in the past deepens your faith relationship, increase your trust in his powerful work over your life. You are so loved by our Lord and Savior.  

Thank you for listening.  If you enjoy YouTube, you can find the Anchored Not Anxious podcast there along with short video devotions.  Don't forget to check out the link for the God Showed Up Tracker in the episode description.  Catch me on Facebook at my Page, Terri L. Hutchinson.  I would love to connect with you.  Until next time!