Check out this passage from Joshua chapter 4, where the Children of Israel have just crossed the Jordan River as they head to the Promised Land, and it will make it clear:
10 Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, 11 and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. 12 The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. 13 About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the LORD to the plains of Jericho for war.
14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.
15 Then the LORD said to Joshua, 16 “Command the priests carrying the ark of the covenant law to come up out of the Jordan.”
17 So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.”
18 And the priests came up out of the river carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD. No sooner had they set their feet on the dry ground than the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and ran at flood stage as before.
19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.” (copyright NIV. Used by permission)
So, why stone piles? They marked places where the Lord acted on behalf of His people. The book of Joshua records eight instances where stones were piled up as a memorial as God's children trekked through the desert; so future generations would ask what those stones meant, and it would provide an opportunity for parents and grandparents to tell of the love of God.
In Joshua 4, we read of the way that the Lord parted the waters of the Jordan River and allowed His children, once again, to walk across on dry land.
Here is the question for you to ponder: How has God moved in your own life? Are those instances buried in your past? Are those events merely things that bring a smile to your heart? Or have you piled up stones there for others to see? By piling stones you can bring glory to the name of the God who still parts waters for His children. They can serve as a testimony for others to see. And when others stand on the edge of the daunting waters of their own lives, they may look to their right and see stones piled high and take courage in the fact that YOU once stood there, at that exact spot, and see how God got you safely to the other side.
Has God delivered you from the chains of sin? Has He sheltered you from the storm? Has He been the one who was near to you when no other was? Has He led you through the desert toward the Promised Land? Has He been your healer? Your peace? Has He been the God of the second and third and 1000th chance? Then make a Pile of Stones and share your experience.
The world speaks of leaving a legacy, of leaving money for their children to inherit, of leaving a mark on the world that will not soon be forgotten.
It is my humble prayer, that all we would desire to leave in this world, are stone piles that testify of the greatness of God. In fact, our lives may be Stone Piles. May it be.
