My hope is sure.
By His limitless portion
We will endure.
Great is His faithfulness
With ne’er a distortion.
~G.W.
Ebenezer: (stone of help), a stone set up by Samuel after a signal defeat of the Philistines, as a memorial of the help received on the event from Jehovah. (1 Samuel 7:12) Its position is carefully defined as between Mizpeh and Shen. [Smith’s Bible Dictionary]
An “Ebenezer” is memory fixed in each place of our mind that we can recall the time and times God helped us when we were in dire need of His help.
Having so many of these memorial stones they could almost reach into heaven if they were stacked atop each other. If set in each location where He gave this help, the landscape of many places of the world would be in wonder of their stacked number. My memory can’t retain them all without appearing as a confluence of many stone gardens.
God told Abraham to number the stars in the sky and grains of sand on the seashore. I get the same picture when trying to recall the number of memorial stones, Ebenezers, in my personal life of God’s faithfulness. May I be so bold? You have them, as well, if you have experienced God at all.
Hope for the most unstable times? Not merely hope – a Sure Hope! “But these things I call to mind.” The most personal proof of His faithfulness is in our hearts, and in the many memories of His immutable devotion of care in our past.
When shaken by doubts or any other fiery darts, I find it helpful to remember what I know. I begin by taking a stroll through my stone garden, recalling the activity of God each anchored Ebenezer represents. The trip is often quicker than it sounds and usually leads to that safest of places in prayer. Did I forget to mention? The Savior leads me along this memory lane, pointing out each carefully placed stone of eternal vigilance. He leads me. He cares for me. And He cares for you.
Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
It is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:21-25
Thank you for this post GW. As soon as I read the word “Ebenezer” the lyrics to “Come Thou Fount” came to mind- “Here I raise my Ebenezer; Here there by Thy great help I’ve come.” I’ll be honest, I never fully understood the word or its importance until reading your post. Thank you for your encouragement to “take a stroll through my stone garden, recalling the activity of God each anchored Ebenezer represents.” I love that “The Savior leads me along this memory lane, pointing out each carefully placed stone of eternal vigilance.” Have a blessed Sunday.
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Thank you so much, Beth. Your comment is both a blessing and encouragement to me this day.
I hope you are having a blessed Lord’s Day, as well!
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So good G.W.
One cannot have too many stone gardens spread throughout life and even the little ones should be remembered, put into stories often and passed forward to generations .
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Thanks, Gary.
So true. Every testimony is another epistle written on the Lord’s heart. Just imagine how many times over each one of ours verifies, and magnifies, the truth of all stories in the bible. It boggles the mind.
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Amen. In the first year of my disability, struggling against despair, doubting the Lord’s presence in my life (how can he love me and allow this to happen?), I got out a piece of paper, entitled it “Evidence of God in My Life,” and made a list of every instance, large and small, that bore witness to the Lord’s active presence and involvement in my life. It was clearly a Spirit-led exercise and served greatly to encourage my own soul. He is faithful indeed, and we do well to remember His every blessed action on our behalf. God bless!
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That is a great example, Craig! It sparks many memories for me in many directions. Thank you for sharing this! Lord’s richest blessings!
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AMEN, G. W.! God’s hope is SURE and,just like faith, a little goes a long way.
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Amen, David! All good things come to us from the Father of Lights!
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