Thursday's Thoughts: Ebenezer

Thursday's Thoughts: a taste of what I'm thinking

Ebenezer.  How cool of a word is that!  Say it again, a little more slowly...Ebenezer.  I love funky sounding words, but that could be another post entirely. Typically when I hear the word Ebenezer around this time of year the first thing that pops into my head is Ebenezer Scrooge, the grouch in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  But last Sunday, I learned something that shed a brighter light on the word Ebenezer.

Since I've moved home I started attending a different church than my parents.  Seeing as it was a holiday weekend and my brother was home, I decided to go with them last Sunday. The sermon there ended up playing off the concept of a recipe.  That got my attention.  I speak, breathe, live and eat recipes.

We looked at verses in 1 Samuel 7 as an example of the ingredients needed in a recipe for renewal.  Near the end of this 'recipe' was the act of giving thanks and acknowledging how God has helped us.  In verse 12 Samuel sets up a stone as a reminder of God's help and faithfulness.  He names the stone Ebenezer, which means stone of help.  As he sets up this stone he says, 'thus far has the Lord helped us.'   When we pause to give thanks we are reflecting and acknowledging all the ways God has helped us in the past.

We are reminded that He has helped us up until now (thus far has the Lord helped us).  This gives us hope and peace that he will continue to help us even though we don't know what's coming next.  Regardless of what may come we choose to pause and thank God for all his help.  His rock-solid help and faithfulness have proven themselves over and over.  Time and time again I see how God has helped me.  I am thankful for this pattern and trust it will continue.  He is my Ebenezer, my stone of help.  A concept that makes me love the word Ebenezer even more.

Food for Thought: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning ; great is thy faithfulness." -Lamentations 3:22-23