Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, "Thus far the LORD has helped us." I Samuel 7:12
This time of year is always filled with top 10 lists of famous people, montages of events that occurred, and a reflection of the year that is about to go into the history books. I always enjoy watching the television specials and am always amazed at how quickly I've forgotten events and people within such a short period of time.
And as I start setting some goals and my perennial resolutions, I like to look back over the events in my own life to see how God has worked. Remembering his faithfulness gives me great hope for the future.
Samuel's stone was a tangible reminder of the Lord's help in time of need. He had come to the aid of his people to defeat their enemies and bring peace to the land. It was placed there so that people would see it and remember how God had worked in a mighty way.
Today's Small Thing is to raise your own Ebenezer, or "stone of remembrance." Take a few moments to reflect on this past year and see how God has been faithful in your life. How has he helped you? How has he come to your aid? How have you grown?
Then, create your Ebenezer by making a tangible reminder. You could write a few sentences in a journal, on the computer, or on a piece of paper. You could create a scrapbook page, piece of artwork or something visual that would spark your memory. You could even find a stone and mark it with the year for your Ebenezer.
Remembering God's help and goodness is the perfect way to end the year, and the best way to begin a new one. It puts our focus on the One who has been faithful to bring us to this point, and who WILL be faithful to lead us from here.
POINTS: 50 for making a tangible reminder, or Ebenezer
We'd love to read your comments! Feel free to share how God has helped you this year!
PS. I'll post the next "Chapter" in my story tomorrow.
Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Robert Robinson, 1757
Come Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's unchanging love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,
Mount of God's unchanging love.
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
