Rehearsing for the Eternal Song

Growing Daily

Every year on September 11, our nation does something powerful. We read aloud the names of those who lost their lives that day. We’ve done it before, and we will do it again. Because remembering matters, and forgetting would be dangerous.

We see that pattern in Scripture. Psalm 136 begins: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” Then the psalmist recounts God’s faithfulness. God created. God rescued. God provided. After every act comes the same refrain: “His faithful love endures forever.”

The repetition isn’t filler. It’s reinforcement. We need to be reminded again and again that He is at work and He is faithful.

Stephen does the same in Acts 7. Standing before hostile authorities, he doesn’t focus on defending himself. Instead, he retells the story of God’s faithfulness.

Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and Paul do the same throughout Scripture (Deuteronomy 8:2–4; Joshua 24:2–13; 1 Samuel 12:6–11; Acts 13:16–41).

One day, this remembering will culminate in the united song of believers and angels: “Worthy is the Lamb,” echoed by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea” (Revelation 5:9–13).

Until then, when I pause to remember what God has done in my life—when I retell the story—I am rehearsing for the moment when my personal testimony joins the eternal song.

Today, I will practice for heaven by remembering His faithfulness.

– Catherine Reid