Wednesday, November 21, 2012

My Ebenezer

Happy Thanksgiving!

This has always been far and away my most favorite "holiday" of them all.  I love everything there is about Thanksgiving Day...the food, the family, the fellowship, the focus, the traditions.  It's good to have a day to pause and reflect on the goodness and blessings of life, even though sometimes November rolls around and life isn't treating us particularly well.  There is always something for which to be thankful.

A few years ago, I sat down late one night during Thanksgiving week and blogged about my life's journey...the presence of God at every juncture and fork in the road.  It was good to stop and look back over my shoulder.  To see His gracious kindness to me all of my life.

I don't have much to add or to "improve" upon from that post that I shared from my heart before. It is still my testimony!  I have, however,  been in such a state of mourning these last weeks as I've been reflecting on the state of our nation. Grieving for the folly of our choices and for the trouble that is sure that follow those choices.  Praying also for the peace of Jerusalem.  These are uncertain times we live in.

During this Thanksgiving Week,  however,  I have been thinking over and over about a phrase from a hymn.  In the second verse of the hymn "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing" written in 1758 by Robert Robinson, he begins with the words, here I raise my Ebenezer. Most hymnals will clue you in that Ebenezer means "stone of help".  But if you dig a little deeper, you will learn the story behind that symbolism. In I Samuel 7, we read that the Philistines have learned that all of Israel had gathered at a place called Mizpah, and have thus mobilized their army and are advancing to war against the people of  Israel.  The Bible tells us that the Israelites were badly frightened and they went before their prophet Samuel and begged him, "plead with our God to save us from the Philistines!" So Samuel did go before the Lord with a burnt offering and called on God to deliver Israel from this conflict.  Just as he was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines arrived for battle.  God spoke with such a mighty voice from Heaven that the Philistines became confused and unable to fight;  the Israelites rose up and defeated them and chased them from Mizpah.

To express their gratitude for the Lord's help and deliverance, verse 7:12-  "Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah.  He named it Ebenezer... "stone of help"...for he said "Up to this point the Lord has helped us.

What precious and powerful words!! Up to this point the Lord HAS helped us!! So, take heart my friends! As I have reflected on this, I have felt challenged to find an Ebenezer Stone for our family, and to consistently write on that stone throughout the year the things the Lord has brought us through.  I can hardly wait to get started.




Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the throne of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood. 


On this day that we give thanks, let us also raise up our Ebenezer yet again...let us remember that the Lord our God is one Lord.  He who watches over Israel (and us) doesn't slumber or sleep.  Even in these days that trouble our hearts, He is the Lord Almighty....our eternal Stone of Help.


9 comments:

Making Memories 1999 said...

Tara, I really enjoyed this post. So encouraging! Thank you!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hello everybody, here every person is sharing these knowledge, therefore
it's nice to read this blog, and I used to visit this blog daily.
My web site: firewood sheds

Anonymous said...

Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic however I'd figured I'd ask.
Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring
a blog article or vice-versa? My site addresses a lot of the
same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit from each
other. If you happen to be interested feel free to send me an e-mail.
I look forward to hearing from you! Terrific
blog by the way!
My website :: Western Australia

Anonymous said...

Greetings from Idaho! I'm bored to death at work so I decided to browse your site on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the information you provide here and can't wait to take
a look when I get home. I'm shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my mobile .. I'm not even using WIFI,
just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic blog!
Also visit my website : property management company

Anonymous said...

I think the admin of this website is really working hard in favor of his
site, since here every data is quality based data.
Also visit my web-site : simply click the up coming website

Anonymous said...

top [url=http://www.xgambling.org/]online casino[/url] hinder the latest [url=http://www.casinolasvegass.com/]free casino[/url] free no deposit reward at the foremost [url=http://www.baywatchcasino.com/]casino compensation
[/url].

Anonymous said...

I am actually glad to glance at this weblog posts which includes plenty of
valuable information, thanks for providing these kinds of information.
Look into my web page ikea furniture assembly service

Anonymous said...

Hello! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give
a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your articles.
Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the
same subjects? Thanks for your time!

Here is my page - Apartments in Cikcilli for sale