Renderings in the Sand

“We write our afflictions on marble, our mercies upon sand.” Charles Spurgeon

I remember when I was a small girl, I loved drawing pictures and writing my name in the sand. I would lay my towel near the hearts I had drawn and signed. As the morning turned into the afternoon, the tide would sneak up on my artwork and distort my signature. Or even worse, a walker would step through my renderings and scatter sand across the picture. 

My grandmother loved Charles Spurgeon and his name frequently shows up in her journals of 62 years. I read this quote for the first time this morning and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. How true this statement has been for me during seasons of suffering. Over the entire scope of my life I can ‘remember’ times where I hung on to the afflictions brought on by others. My tears, resentment and bitterness were ‘etched into the marble of my mind and heart.’ Mercies upon the sand…forgotten gratitude for the other 99% of the time when God gracefully blessed me and mercifully forgave me. Why is it so easy for tough circumstances to sneak up on past mercies and distort our picture of God? Why do we allow Satan to walk through our pictures of God’s past faithfulness and scatter lies across our mind? Why is so difficult to etch the mercies in stone and lay our afflictions in the sand where they are washed away by time? We choose what it is we wish to remember…to meditate upon…to give power to…to etch in stone. ‘In the Hebrew culture, remembering is actually considered a forward-moving practice. Remembering is the way to…step into the unknown future…remembering God’s faithful record…remembering to move forward with renewed faith and hope in God.’ Jesus & Women, Kristi McLelland, p. 96. 

“I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” Psalm 77:11