Memorial stones or grave markers?

Throughout the Old Testament are examples of memorial stones set up representing situations the Israelites found themselves in so future generations would be able to know the power and presence of Jehovah God. Had they not experienced these situations, there would have been no memorial stones for future generations--no lessons to pass on.

Don’t know about you but there are things in my past that I would just as soon remain in my past…buried! “Remember the good ole days” has become a much trumped slogan when our today starts to become overwhelming or perhaps doesn’t play out how we had hoped it would. The “good ole days” held challenges as well, although we tend to forget them when comparing to today. When reminiscing on the past we also tend to focus on the positive rather than the negative.
Perhaps by not reflecting on some of the past we then won’t have to deal with the consequences or even possible reconciliations. But in doing this we could also be shortchanging future generations from lessons learned.

“In the middle of the Jordan…take up a stone…to serve as a sign among you. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” Joshua 4:4-7

A new generation of Israelites is at the threshold of entering a land that was promised by God to their forefathers and their parents. Joshua and Caleb are the only remaining people from the generation (20 years or older) that left Egypt to enter the Promised Land, a generation that wandered in the wilderness for 40 years until they died. The miracles and stories of how God delivered them from Egypt, provided for them, watched over them and directed them during that time has been passed on to this generation from their parents. This generation has never known anything but wandering, never been part of a permanent community to be able to show their children where they played or worked. They have never known or suffered at the hands of the Egyptian taskmasters as their parents had; nor tasted the first of a crop their own hands planted and harvested.

Now they stand at the bank of the Jordan River, the first obstacle before they step foot onto promised soil. A land that is so bountiful it has been described as “flowing with milk and honey”. Land that has already been planted with everything they will need the moment their feet step on it.

When reading the above verse, I started thinking, “Do I erect memorial stones or grave markers representing my past?”
Romans 15:4, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
I am a firm believer of not living in the past, rather using our past as a tool of warning or encouragement to future generations. When we bury our past and any pain it brought it becomes of no value to anyone including us—it becomes a grave marker representing something that is dead and buried. But, if we allow our past to be as an encouragement to others it then becomes a memorial stone—something that is remembered and can be used to help others. We can use our past to tell of the faithfulness of God OR perhaps what happened when we didn’t allow God to work in our lives.

What about you? Are you erecting memorial stones or grave markers with your past?