I don’t know about you, but when I hear the word Ebenezer, I think of a curmudgeonly old miser who learns the true meaning of Christmas. I certainly don’t think of God’s goodness. But names come from somewhere, and in a great twist of irony Ebenezer has more to do with trusting for provision than the penny pinching old man who made the world so famous today.
Ebenezer actually has its roots in the Old Testament and a moment of God’s provision. The moment comes in 1 Samuel 7 when Samuel is leading Israel on a campaign against their enemies.
“Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way.” (1 Samuel 7:10-11)
All in a day’s work for God. But where they could have run on to the next fight or given away to celebrating their victory, Samuel pulls the Israelites up short.
“Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!”” (1 Samuel 7:12)
The stone of help. Samuel doesn’t just want to remember what God did for them. He creates a monument to it. He understood how short human memory is and took steps to ensure that when it failed, they wouldn’t have the option to forget. We need that same attention in our own walk’s with God.
When we “raise an Ebenezer” we are erecting a mile marker to look back on as we head into the unknown. The more space we put between ourselves and that marker, the harder we make it for ourselves to remember that we are taken care of.
Imagine you’re walking through a forest at night (a seriously ill advised endeavor, but go with me here). You know where you have to go, but you only have the light of your home behind you. The farther you get away from it, the farther you are from being sure it’s there. Now imagine you could set another lantern down on your journey. Now the point of assurance is so much closer and you can go so much farther in that certainty. You can double your distance because you can see back to the light that will tell you where the truer light is. And so on and so on you go, creating a trail of assurance for yourself that makes it possible for you to go on with confidence.
That’s what an ebenezer does. It acts like a tether to the faithfulness we’re so prone to forget. We know where we can go with God, by remembering where we’ve been with him.
So when was the last time you raised an Ebenezer? When was the last time you stopped and acknowledged that God came through and provided? It doesn’t have to be big. We don’t need waters parted to know God is taking care of us. Sometimes an Ebenezer is as small as or as big as you being delivered from the worst problem you’ve experienced in your life so far. Whatever the size of the deliverance. It’s deeply important to stop and give God that glory and remembrance.
First, because He’s God and is wholly and completely worthy of that honor. Full stop. Second, because it is one of our greatest safety nets against our own forgetfulness. We need these reminders to keep our attitudes and fear in check. Raising an ebenezer not only stops us from forgetting God’s faithfulness, it deepens our resolve to follow him. A God who shows up for his people again and again without fail is a God very worth following indeed.
Practically what does this look like? It might not be realistic to raise a pile of rocks every time God pulls through for you (though visually that would look spectacular), but there are still ways you can stop and make lasting reminders for yourself of God’s provision. Take a look at how your habits work and place a reminder right in the middle of them.
If your planner rules your life, right reminders in your to do list. Set reminders on your phone. Write them on your bathroom mirror. Or get even more specific. If you need the reminders for your health, write them on your medicine bottles. If groceries are tight, put notes in your fridge. Put the stories of what God has done for you right in the path of what you need him to do. Then breathe deep his provision.
Raise your ebenezers, Christian. The Lord is worth remembering.
Let’s find some joy,
A
Avalon Robinson Author 