Mile Markers

Opening Illustration – Finding the Road Again

Have you ever driven a long stretch of unfamiliar highway at night?

You keep glancing for the next green sign or reflective number — a mile marker — proof that you’re still on the right road.

Without those markers, even a straight road can feel uncertain.

Life works the same way.

Faith is a road that runs through valleys and detours, and God — in His mercy — has placed mile markers all along the way.

They remind us of where we’ve been, who brought us there, and where we’re going next.

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The Scene at the Jordan

Israel had wandered forty years.

Now the nation stood at the flooded Jordan, facing Canaan — the land of promise.

Joshua told the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

And when the priests carrying the ark stepped into the river, the water stopped.

Two million people crossed on dry ground.

Then came the curious command:

> “Take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan… and when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’ you shall tell them.”. — Joshua 4 : 6 – 7

Twelve men — one from each tribe — picked up heavy, wet stones from the riverbed and stacked them at Gilgal.

It wasn’t decoration. It was declaration.

Those stones became Israel’s first mile marker in the new land.

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Remembering Is Not Sentiment — It’s Sanctification

When we read “Sanctify the Lord in your hearts” (1 Peter 3 : 15), the meaning is to set God apart — to treat Him as holy, unique, trustworthy.

That’s what those stones did.

Every time someone walked past, they silently proclaimed,

> “The Lord did this. He keeps His word.”

To remember is to sanctify.

When you tell your story and give God credit, you make Him holy in the hearing of others.

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Why God Insists on Mile Markers

1. Because we forget fast.

Memory leaks. Blessings fade into normalcy.

God knows that gratitude has to be refreshed, or pride will take its place.

2. Because our children will ask.

“What do these stones mean to you?”

The next generation learns theology by listening to our testimony.

When we point to our stones — our answered prayers, our deliverance stories — we hand them faith with fingerprints.

3. Because the road ahead will test us again.

The God who opened yesterday’s Jordan will ask us to trust Him at tomorrow’s Jericho.

The stones behind us are fuel for faith before us.

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A Modern Translation

Your mile markers might not be stones.

They might be:

A date circled in your Bible.

A hospital wristband you couldn’t throw away.

A letter of forgiveness you finally wrote.

A journal line that reads, “He came through again.”

Each is a testimony in tangible form — a quiet sermon that says, “God is faithful.”

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When Remembering Sanctifies God

Isaiah told a fearful nation, “Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” (Isa 8 : 13)

Meaning: don’t give your fear to anything smaller than God.

To sanctify Him is to remember who He really is when everything else feels threatening.

That’s what those stones did for Israel.

Every time the nation forgot, they could look back and say,

> “He stopped the river once; He can move the mountain again.”

Memory becomes worship when it keeps God at the center.

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Personal Reflection

Pause and think:

What mile markers has God placed in your journey?

Where has He proved faithful beyond reason?

What moments in your story deserve a small stack of stones?

Write them down. Tell them.

Because every unspoken testimony is a stone left underwater — unseen, unsanctified.

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Part 2 : Walking the Road Ahead

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1. The Road Keeps Going

The Israelites didn’t stop at Gilgal. They didn’t pitch tents forever around the pile of stones.

They moved on — to Jericho, to Ai, to the long road through Canaan.

That’s the first lesson of the mile marker:

You don’t live at the marker; you live beyond it.

It’s not a monument to camp beside; it’s a reminder that God keeps moving, and so should we.

Faith isn’t nostalgia.

It’s forward motion built on remembered grace.

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2. Building New Mile Markers

We’re quick to recognize God’s big miracles — but slow to mark His everyday mercies.

Yet if you look closely, your life is dotted with mile markers:

Answered prayers that changed your direction.

People who arrived at just the right time.

Doors closed that turned out to be protection, not rejection.

Quiet seasons when God taught you to wait.

Every one of these deserves a stone, even if only in your heart.

We build mile markers by pausing long enough to name God’s work — to say, “This is holy ground.”