Discipline of Celebration

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan… and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” (4:1-3)

And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” (4:20-24)

Excerpts from Joshua 4:1-24 (emphasis mine)

I love this part of the story of Joshua. God has provided for his people. He has once again performed a miracle of parting the waters of the Jordan River so that his people could pass on dry ground to the land he had promised them. And God tells Joshua to commemorate this act of His goodness by constructing a tower of stones that would stand for generations and act as a reminder of how God graciously cares for his children.

It sounds like this should be the final chapter of the book. God made a promise. God kept his promise. And his people remembered God’s good character. The end!

However, when you keep reading Joshua, you quickly realize that this is only a pause in a much longer, complicated story. God’s people would still need to fix their eyes on the Lord and depend on Him through hardships in the many years to come, and yet, they still took time to pause and celebrate along the way.

For some – celebrating comes naturally. For me, celebrating is a discipline I must intentionally cultivate. I am really good at creating excuses to not celebrate: I’ll look foolish, I don’t have time, there are more important things to do, or the work isn’t finished yet (so why am I celebrating a job half done?!) – are just a few I use.

This past year I’ve learned that three things happen when I make celebrating a discipline – and remembering these things helps me celebrate more consistently, and more enthusiastically. When I celebrate what God has done:

1. My own faith is strengthened
2. God’s praises are multiplied
3. Hope is increased in others

My faith is strengthened:

In Joshua 4:22, Joshua explains to the people that the stone structure is intended to be a conversation starter. It is assumed that others – specifically children of the next generation – will see it and ask questions. The beauty of others asking about the tower is that it gives the builders an opportunity to retell the story of God’s faithfulness. When we retell stories of how God has provided for us it reminds our own hearts of those moments and fills us with encouragement and joy as we reflect on how he met our needs.

It is so easy to forget the ways that God answers our prayers. So often our prayers are for little things that God takes care of in an instant – and we thank him in the moment and then move on. And then we forget. And when the next need arrives, we panic: maybe God won’t answer, or maybe he has forgotten me, or become bored with me, or is just annoyed by my never-ending requests. But if we have taken the time to celebrate his answered prayers in the past, it will be much easier for us to recall them in the future.

A little before this past Christmas I convinced Alice’s doctors to let her skip a routine lab check one week. In the big picture of all she was going through – it was a small answer to prayer. But it did mean one less poke for our girl. To be honest, at first part of me felt like we deserved a break and that led to feelings of entitlement instead of gratitude. But then the Lord prompted me to celebrate – to create something that would remind our hearts that this was the Lord’s doing – he was the one who answered our prayer for a respite. So, I baked a pie. Nothing fancy – but an intentional act of pausing and reflecting. From now on, whenever I make a pie it reminds me of how God has cared for us even in small ways. And it strengthens my faith in what God will do to provide for us in the future.

God’s Praises Multiply:

When we celebrate – it’s not only good for our hearts, it actually increases God’s glory.

Now, God’s glory can be tricky to define but I found John Piper’s* definition helpful: “I believe the glory of God is the going public of his infinite worth. I define the holiness of God as the infinite value of God, the infinite intrinsic worth of God. And when that goes public in creation, the heavens are telling the glory of God”

So, when I say we “increase God’s glory” – I don’t mean that we are adding to his worth. God’s worth is infinite and is not dependent on me to add to it. But if we think of God’s glory as simply the public expression of his infinite holiness and infinite good character – then we can increase it. We can aide in the “going out” and “making public” of who God is.

When we choose to celebrate what God has done in our lives – we are joining with the seraphim who cry ““Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)

A few minutes after I pulled that pie from the oven my in-laws happened to call to check on us. I said, “actually I just made a pie to celebrate that Alice doesn’t have to get poked this week – would you like to come over and share it with us?”

They had just finished preparing spaghetti at their house – so they packed up the sauce and the noodles and headed our way. I rummaged through our fridge and put together a salad and when they arrived we enjoyed dinner together. When the dishes were cleared we brought out the pie. A simple symbol of God’s provision. And now God wasn’t just being praised by me, or my immediate family – but now he was being praised by others as well. His holiness was going public – his glory was increased.

Celebrating has this kind of contagious quality about it. It is hard to celebrate secretly. When our hearts are gladdened we tend to share that joy with those around us – and when we are celebrating something God has done – this leads to others joining us in praise!

But it doesn’t stop there. In Tim Keller’s book “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering” he talks about how not only do our praises increase the “going public” of God’s goodness here on earth, but we actually can increase his glory in the heavens as well. Several passages in the Bible talk about the angels learning of God’s character (his story of redemption through Jesus Christ, his glory, and his wisdom) by watching us walk in faith. So, when we celebrate what God has done – God’s infinite goodness “goes public” among the angels as well! (1 Peter 1:12, Eph. 3:10)

Others are encouraged:

^“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

Romans 15:13

“How did you do it? How did you not completely fall apart while your kid had cancer?”

These are questions I’ve been asked several times. And the honest answer is “I didn’t do it”. Left alone I would have completely fallen apart – and there were times when I did forget the hope I have in Jesus, and those days were rough.  

But Romans 15:13 tells us that not only is God’s character full of hope – but he makes that hope abound in us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

2 Corinthians 1:9-10

When we choose to celebrate the (big or little) things God does – we are sending a message to others about where our hope is found. We are answering their questions of “how are you still standing in this trial?” by saying it is Jesus who made us to stand, is making us to stand, and will make us to stand again.

And we are helping dispel the myth that “Christians have to have it all together” – that we are somehow earning God’s love by having such strong faith and maintaining hope in the midst of hardships.

Please hear me – having hope is not something we create for ourselves. It is a gift from the God of hope. It comes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God who causes us to abound in hope. We do not have hope first and then God draws near and loves us or is pleased with us. We draw near to God out of desperation and brokenness and then, out of HIS deep abounding love for us, he fills us with peace, joy and hope. It is His gift. It is His grace.

When I came upon 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 I was struck by the bold hope of Paul… his future hope was based on past hope. He had seen God provide and deliver him… and therefore had confidence that God would do it again.

That is something I struggle with. I see God do something wonderful – but I so quickly forget it. And when the next trial comes doubt rushes in much faster than hope. But when I practice the discipline of celebrating God’s provision as I go on this journey of life, I create “stones of remembrance” that I can look back on when the fear and anxiety try to take control. I have something tangible (like a pie) to remember that just as God rose Jesus from the dead, and delivered me from a previous trial – so he will deliver me again. Hallelujah!

Our “stones” encourage our own hearts to remember God’s faithfulness. They increase the honor given to God both here on earth and in heaven by the angels. And they are visible sign-posts to others about where our hope is found – and where their hope can be found as well.

So, what do you need to celebrate this week? What simple thing can you do to pause, and reflect on God’s provision? How can that thing encourage your heart? How does it increase the glory of the Lord? How does it encourage others to hunger for the hope of Jesus?

Happy Celebrating Friends! -marissa

*https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-gods-glory