Raise Your Own Ebenezer

Rather listen to this blog? Listen to “Raise Your Own Ebenezer.”

The last few weeks have been tough in the Harbison household. Life has come at us as life does from time to time. We have been short on time, patience, peace, and answers. Despite the onslaught of our troubles, though, we were never short on God’s grace and goodness. We just had a little trouble remembering that. We have been so focused on our troubles that we forgot God had brought us through times much more difficult than this before and He could do it again.

 We needed an Ebenezer, and we have one in our son, Micah. To explain, we need to go back in time just a smidge.

 The book of 1 Samuel is very special to me. For years, my husband Andrew and I tried, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant. We knew in the depths of our souls God had promised us a child, yet year gave way to year with no happy announcement and no pitter-patter of little feet. Our agony and heartbreak in that season of our lives, even in the face of God’s promise, is still painful to remember at times.

 During that time, I clung to the story of Hannah from 1 Samuel, chapter 1. If you aren’t familiar with the story, here is a summary:

 Hannah was one of two wives of Elkanah. Penniah, Elkanah’s other wife, had children; Hannah did not, but she longed for them. One day, Hannah prayed her heart out for a child in front of Eli, a priest. She was baring her soul and pleading with God for a child and was so overcome with emotion that Eli thought her drunk and rebuked her. She cleared things up with him and went home, and God finally answered her prayers. Hannah had a son, whom she named “Samuel,” which means “God has heard.” Hannah ends up having three more sons and two daughters.

 Every time I felt despair at not having a child, I remembered Hannah and Samuel. Years later (yes, years), as we drove to the hospital to meet the baby we would be adopting, we scrambled for a name. We finally landed on “Micah Samuel.” The name reminded us both of my grandfather, Sammy, and Hannah’s story. Like Hannah, we knew God had heard our prayers and answered them in Micah. The answer didn’t come in the way we imagined, but it was good and perfect, as God’s answers always are. He was our Samuel.

 This portion of my life and my son have become an Ebenezer for me. Later in the book of 1 Samuel, when Samuel is grown and serving as the last judge of Israel, he raises what he calls an “Ebenezer,” a large stone or pile of stones that serve as a monument. The name Ebenezer means “stone of help.”

 This is the only place the term is used in the Bible, though there are other times leaders set up stones as monuments of what God has done for them. In this particular case, the Israelites had fallen away from God and had erected idols of Baalim and Ashtaroth, gods of the Canaanites. They were attacked and defeated in battles by the Philistines, and the ark of the covenant, which was disobediently removed from the tabernacle, was taken by the enemy (later to be returned when God sent judgment on any Philistine encampment that held the ark). Israel faced major loss of life and the death of their leader, Eli (along with his two wicked sons).

 These were hard times. They certainly carried responsibility for their troubles through their disobedience, but the times were hard nonetheless. In desperation, the Israelites finally submitted to Samuel’s call to return to the Lord and got rid of the other gods they’d been worshipping. As a mark of their new obedience, they gathered in Mizpeh to ask forgiveness and rededicate themselves to the one true God.

 Even there, as Samuel offered sacrifice for their sins, the Philistines attacked yet again. This time, however, the people cried out to Samuel to cry out to the Lord, and God subdued the Philistines by sending them into a panic, which allowed the Israelites to win the day.

 Then, in the spot God granted them victory and forgiveness, Samuel erected a stone monument, a remembrance of what God had done for them, of how he had helped them, of how he had saved them.

 “Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’” (1 Samuel 7:12).

 You might have also heard the term “Ebenezer” in the second verse of the hymn “Come Thou Fount,” written by Robert Robinson in 1758 (I love the version by David Crowder):

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Here by Thy great help I've come

And I hope by Thy good pleasure

Safely to arrive at home

The idea is the same. We need to remember how God has helped us. This is what an Ebenezer is. It is something that reminds you of how God has intervened for you before, a reminder your faith is well-founded, that God is capable and trustworthy to handle anything you will face.

 Micah, my son, is my daily reminder God’s promises are true and he’s “turned my mourning into dancing” (Psalms 30: 11). He is a living Ebenezer for me.

 When I look back through my life, I can see many times God has helped me. I would have a small mountain if I piled stone on top of stone for each one. Some stones are small - they were a kind response instead of a bitter one, or the understanding of a friend when it was most needed. Some are pretty hefty. They represent God’s clear direction in my life, times he led me to or away from something. They stand for healing of past hurt and abuse and renewed relationships.

 Some are the size of boulders. These mark the big, miraculous events in my life - the times when I had nowhere I could go and nothing I could do in my own strength. These are the times, when hope was hard to find, that I saw God reach out and help me.

 Together, these memories cement my faith any time it is threatened. Like a physical Ebenezer, I can look back and see what God has done for me, large and small, and know He is with me. They remind me that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1).

 God is already moving and solving problems from the past weeks in big ways. He is leading us to the help and the answers we were searching for. He is strengthening our relationships and renewing our strength. He is so good. Always. We had just temporarily forgotten.

 I don’t want to ever forget. It is in the forgetting that fear and frustration take root. But in remembering, God’s love, power, and glory bring peace.

 I would encourage you to raise your own Ebenezer - in thought or by something physical - maybe a poster or a list in a notebook. Or, maybe there is a person in your life who reminds you about God’s goodness. Whatever it is for you, whatever God has done for you in the past, remember it. When the hard stuff happens, and we all know it will, look at or recall your Ebenezer, and remember that the same God who has helped you before is still with you. He is still your refuge. He is still your strength. He is still the one you can call on for help.