The blog below was inspired by this episode of “What’s God Doing?”
Sit back and think for a moment what the culture of your household is when it comes to celebrating victories.
For example, do you celebrate a kid’s first “A” in school or a sports game they won? Do you celebrate a job well done or attaining a driver’s license? Do you have a way of celebrating the victories in your life and of those around you, or do you only stick to birthdays and holidays? Depending on whether you are a single adult, have a family of kids, or are the kid yourself, it will look different.
Perhaps more importantly, do you celebrate the spiritual victories in your life? Have you even thought of it?
I know in my life I have really only just started thinking about how I would even go about such a thing. In my life, spiritual growth and maturity are more of a newer concept. It’s not that I was not growing before, but I was never really able to recognize how I was growing.
Recently God has been setting me free from some big insecurities. At first, I did not know how to believe I was truly free or how to even walk in it; as I am continually being set free and learning what newness looks like I remember a concept I learned from Abraham.
Genesis shares how all throughout Abraham’s life when God spoke to him, he honored God in some way, or made a physical representation of that moment to remember what God said or did.
Genesis 12:7-9, Genesis 13:14-18, Genesis 14:18-20, Genesis 15… And so many more.
This morning through a conversation in a Bible study, I began to see how it is a theme throughout Scripture. We spotted it in Revelation 15:2-4:
And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”
Even in the parables Jesus talked about celebrating when things that were lost are found (Luke 15).
I don’t know about you, but I think some parts of being in a western culture dumb down what true joy is. It is too loud or not professional or only expressed in certain settings; showing that level of emotion is thought of as weird. I mean think about it for a second, most people seem calm or distracted and unengaging. Joy is the exact opposite; joy comes from deep within and brings excitement, smiles, energy, strength, contentment, and laughter. These should cause people to engage in conversation because joy is contagious. Now I know it is expressed in different ways, but ultimately that is what I have witnessed and experienced joy to do. In the parable of lost things joy and celebration were expressed over something being found.
I think it is time to learn how to express joy again. Celebrate the victories in your life and of those around you; small ones, big ones, and all the ones in-between. Maybe it would help us not forget the things God does in our lives, or even help us be more grateful for them. It might even help us to build the lifestyle of joy that we as freed Christ-followers should be living.
My challenge for you this week is to start small. Invite someone for coffee and tell what God did in your life recently. Host a small, casual party. Someone I know wrote things down on small rocks and filled a bowl with them; they would then go back to read them and tell the stories when someone asked about them. Find something to help you name and remember these moments; make a plan of action to continue this throughout your life.
Let us know in the comments what you came up with; also tell us if you find any more ways in the Bible how others celebrated.
Don’t forget to watch the video and have a great week!
