" You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." Ps 56:8
Numerous people really enjoy writing personal journals in their leisure time. Men and women, both young and old record life's various situations to rewind the roller-coaster emotional journey of the past. While going through the pages, many memory refreshes the soul like achieving a goal, a fun trip with friends, marriage, and so on while some remembrance rekindles the heartaches such as a loss of someone, a downfall, an accident, etc. Human life is always filled with both excited and emotional pages and one must learn to balance both.
From the Bible, we can read that the Almighty God, the maker of the entire universe keeps a yearbook Himself. Surprised? Yes, that's what the scripture tells us. Have you ever wondered Why should God needs a record book? What is He going to write in it? About whom are the pages filled with? Will He write it or some servant angel pens it down for Him? Well, when I was meditating upon the chapter I had such serious thoughts gushing over my mind. I was extremely eager to find out God's handbook and started to ponder more. And all that I found out, all that God has put in my heart is what I'm gonna share with every one of you. Are you ready to explore? Before starting, if you were guilty about intervening in somebody's diary, well it is indeed not ethical to dig into others' privacy but God volunteers to show us His arena. He in truth, wants us to have some knowledge about it. So, let's start...
Firstly, in the book of Malachi, chapter 3 (16-18) says, " Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. " Evident to our meditation, Prophet Malachi prophecy about God's logbook. We can understand from Malachi that God notes the life of everyone who fears His name. There could be a couple of reasons probably for His notebook, which we are going to discuss shortly. But before that, let me draw your attention to the periodical time of Moses. When God called Moses to Mount. Sinai volunteered in providing a list of rules and regulations for the Children of Israel to abide by their lifestyle aligned to it. It was later called God's commandments. Exodus 31:18 says, God wrote with His finger in two tables all 10 commandments. Just imagine God's handwriting in it. How amazing the calligraphy could be.? Oh, Moses had such privilege to watch God writing it down for them. But unfortunately, in anger Moses pathetically broke it down on the golden calf, the idol Aaron made to worship. Therefore God ordered Moses to cut the stones(the tables) and made him write. It didn't just end there, God explained the architecture of the Tabernacle with the minute and exact measurements, the dress codes for the Priest and High Priest, the formula pattern for war, and so on and asked Moses to record everything just as He declared. We knew that the Torah (the first 5 books) in the Bible was written by Moses as God dictated it to him. The entire chapter of Genesis was written by Moses after several centuries it had taken place. Hence, the point is God wanted the incidents to be reordered for one solemn reason. God wanted Moses to commit to paper so that the Israelites and their future generations must not forget the law, the ordinances that the He had given them.
In the same way, people register it just to not forget the moments of the past. It is yet another way of carrying the memories with us throughout. Forget about the latest gadget and technologies, I would love to write every single thing to not slip my treasured instances. Now, back to the Book of God, God simply jot down to not miss any circumstances of His holy ones. The Psalmist says, " You oh God keeps an eye on painful heartbreaking spans and collects my tears in your bottle. You do write all these and the pages containing it are before thee always." Again taking back to the timelines of Moses, just as Moses led the entire crowd of Israel from Egypt, they settled temporarily in the place called Rephidim. As the people were relaxing after the tiring journey of crossing the Red sea, Amalekites the enemy kingdom suddenly attacked the people of Israel and killed everyone who was at the rear side. They killed the men, women, children, the families and stole all their possessions. An unexpected attack from the foes left the group in utter shock. All the children of Israel wept and mourned for their brothers. They were all dejected and depressed to march forward to the promised land. They lost not just their fellow - brothers, but also their confidence and trust in God. In our lives too, we would all have happily received promises from God over certain things and proceed to move forward with an unshakable trust. As we are on to inherit, suddenly an enemy from nowhere chases us and steals everything from us, and alas we are alone and empty.
The Israelites, including the ones who were killed by the Amalekites all, received one promise about entering Canaan from the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet, they couldn't make their journey to the destination. why? Paul, in the New Testament to Corinthians, has beautifully given us the answer. 1cor 9:24 says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. " He says, runs in such a way to receive the prize. In a race competition, everybody runs at the start yet one completes it and brags the medal. Every one of the families of Israel initiated the journey to Canaan still only Joshua and Caleb could complete it. Today, I encourage you, readers, to cling to God and run your race with utmost perseverance and faith. There are many listed in the cloud of witnesses in Heb 11 which is given for us to preserve the inheritance just like them. Don't worry if you are tired, lost focus, hopeless, doubtful, etc. to this day I pray that God will carry you forward in His arms to reach the destination.
The Israelites sorrow knew no bound over the great loss, yet God fought for them through Joshua and gave them victory. The very first battle they fought with 0 experience on the battlefield, God gave them tremendous triumph over the Amalekites. He recorded the incident and after very long years, commanded Saul, the 1st king of Israel to utterly destroy the nation of Amalekites. (1sam 15) Isn't that wonderful how God remembers to do justice to His chosen nation?
Yes, dear readers, God records every sorrow of yours, every tear, every injustice, every weakness, every untold emotion, every humiliation, every loss you faced, etc. All of it is written in the book of God. He will remember to do justice in your lives as well. What a loving God we have? Cheer up for the salvation of God is near. He will change every sorrow into joy. Days, months, years would have passed, but God still remembers the prayers you have offered and will repay you in double measures. Take off your sad gloomy faces, and rejoice in the Lord, God will bless you and make your heart merrily sing. You will be a great witness for His name. May God bless you all abundantly and be with you in the coming days. May the mighty power of God rest in your lives and do wonders. Amen.
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