The best news? Whatever issue in life I’m dealing with, God has a promise for it!

When you think about the Israelites, what comes to mind? For me, it’s “grumbling and complaining.” However, when I took the time to read their entire story (pre-slavery, slavery, and wandering in the desert for forty years), I gained a new perspective. While the Israelites were really good at complaining, their story is more about God helping to transform their negative mindset into one of gratitude.

God knows gratefulness becomes a lifestyle when we focus on His blessings instead of on the obstacles we see in the natural world. The Israelites had the unfortunate habit of receiving a miracle from God, praising Him for it, but quickly forgetting about His faithfulness and complaining again when they encountered the next obstacle.

God in His great love, provided a solution for them. In Deuteronomy 4:9, while they were still wandering in the desert, God told them, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” (NIV)

Years later, when the Israelites finally crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, God reminded them yet again, in Joshua 4:1-7, “When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.’

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,  and said to them, ‘Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, “What do these stones mean?”  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (NIV)

While the Israelites’ story is simply one in many, the whole Bible can be looked at as a blessings journal of sorts. It’s a recording of the fulfillment of God’s promises to His people over a span of thousands of years.

While the Israelites’ story is simply one in many, the whole Bible can be looked at as a blessings journal of sorts.

When we choose to keep a blessings journal in our own lives, it’s our way of remembering God’s promises that He has given specifically to us, and it’s a way to pass down that legacy to our children and grandchildren, like God instructed the Israelites, as a tool to help build their faith.

So how exactly can we start a blessings journal of our own? First, find a journal that makes you want to sit down with God daily, and maybe a favorite pen. When I first started over a decade ago, I didn’t really know what a blessings journal was, so I started out slow, like a diary. I would write down anything “good” that happened that day. My entries looked a little like this:

• Thank You, Lord, for that free cup of coffee today.
  
• Thank You, Lord, I finished work before 8 PM.
  
• Even on the really bad days, I would write: “Thank You, Lord, that today’s over.”

After writing down God’s daily blessings for a while, I began filling in other sections as well:

• I added the word God gave me for that particular year, including each previous year’s word so I could see them all together. In that same section, I would also include specific Bible verses God would give me for the season I was in.
  
• Any time God called me to fast, I would put the dates of the fasting period, what I fasted from, and the blessings God gave during the fasting time. Sometimes it was physical blessings while other times I wrote down what God spoke to me during the fast.

This past year, God invited me to add yet another section to my blessings journal. He asked me to start praying His promises back to Him from Scripture, and writing those Scriptures down in my journal so I had a quick resource when they were needed.

Now, when I’m worried, I pray Deuteronomy 31:8 back to God: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (NIV)

If I’m weary, I pray Psalm 62:5: “Find rest O my soul, in God alone.” (NIV)

The best news? Whatever issue in life I’m dealing with, God has a promise for it! When I pray God’s promises back to Him, I am filled with faith and worry has to flee. When I record those promises and blessings in my blessings journal, I can go back and reread how God showed up for me in the past and trust that He has me in my present and in my future too.

When I record the blessings God gives me, it helps me be less like the Israelites and more like the disciples in the book of Acts.

Finally, I invite you to pick one day a year and reread your journal, remembering how God was faithful throughout the year. It will build your faith and keep your eyes focused on God’s promises instead of the problems in life that vie for our attention.