Remembering God's Faithfulness

Well, it is a crisp November morning here in Northwest Arkansas.  This weekend was full of emotion at the Taylor house.  Saturday finished with a ray of Razorback hope as my beloved Hogs managed to achieve their first conference win in nearly two years and gained possession of the cherished “Golden Boot”.  Yesterday, we were presented with our first snow.  The boys (specifically Grayson) sat in awe at lunch as the snow was beginning to cover the cars and ground outside the restaurant.  There wasn’t a ton on the ground in the end, but I did see many folks posting Facebook pictures and questions like, “Should I go out or stay inside all cozy in my fuzzy blanket with a good book and warm drink?”  By all accounts it has been a pretty routine year leading into our Thankful Season with many people posting daily thanks as we gain steam towards my favorite time of the year.  But this past weekend and this week will be different for me this year.

Many of you may not know my full name is actually Steven Gregory Taylor.  Most know me by Greg and even fewer would know the reasoning behind my given name.  Today I am going to focus on the first.  My mother is the youngest of four children with three older brothers.  As you can guess, one of them is named Steven “Steve” and although it rarely seems nice to have “favorites” in a family dynamic Steve was her favorite.  I think it was mostly because he stuck up for her in family feuds, or the sense of humor they shared together, but her firstborn was named after him.

This week will be a very tough one for me (selfishly), but mostly my family because we lost a PILLAR of our family this weekend, my Uncle Steve.  A surgery with a 2% chance of fatality took a very wrong turn for the worst.  To say I’m in shock would be an understatement.  To say I am heartbroken would not begin to describe the depth of how I feel.  The thousands of emotions that come along with it are like a hurricane tossing a small boat.  It is at times like this that reflection can be your best friend or worst enemy, calling into question many truths we rarely challenge and testing a confidence that has always seemed so solid. 

Many times in the Old Testament the Israelites would forget all of the miraculous works of our Lord and begin to waver in their own insecurity.  Time and time again we see God come to the rescue and save them from their weakness.  Often times when God delivered his people he would instruct them to stack stones as a memorial to remind them of his faithfulness to the current and future generations.  You see an example of this in Joshua 4 when the Israelites wanted to cross the Jordan (at flood stage) into Jericho so they could overtake it.  Priests were asked to take the ark into the Jordan, thus stopping the flow of the water and allowing everyone to cross on dry ground.  When they had safely crossed, one member from each of the 12 tribes gathered a stone and placed it where they stayed that night as a memorial to God’s faithfulness to them.

This illustration, along with a song, was what God reminded me of this weekend.  The old hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” echoed through my head.  Specifically these first two verses:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

There are many stones I have stacked along my 40 year journey with my Heavenly Father.  To ignore them and not anchor to them in this seemingly tough storm would be ungrateful and foolish.  There is so much he has done in my life that should give me much confidence and courage.  It can be tough to understand all this life brings to the table, but if you find yourself in a stormy season of life, revisit those “stone memorials” of God’s faithfulness and maybe listen to Him whisper this familiar tune in your ear,   On Christ the solid rock I stand…

In the words of my beloved Uncle Steve, “Bye For Now”. 

~Steven G Taylor