Growing up in a small country church, we sang Hymns during every service.  One of my favorites was “Come Thou Fount,” By Robert Robinson in the 18^th century.  Originally, it was my favorite because it had a lot of odd words in it, but as I’ve grown to understand those words the song has become a heart cry.  One of those odd words was ebenezer, no, not scrooge.  It says, “Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by thy great help I’ve come.”

            Ebenezer or Ebenezer Stone comes from 1 Samuel 7:12, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.  He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord helped us.’”  In this story in 1 Samuel the Israelites had brought the Arc of the Covenant to a battle camp thinking that it brought the presence of God.  Well, the Philistines won the battle and stole the Arc of the Covenant.  For many years, they were suffering the consequences of that loss.  Samuel guided them to put off false idols and turn back to God.  When they did this and Samuel interceded for them to God, things turned around.  The Philistines came to attack, again, but this time the Lord was with them and the Israelites won the battle.  This is when Samuel raised the Ebenezer Stone as a remembrance of how the Lord helped them.   We see this practice of building an altar of remembrance over and over in the Old Testament with Moses, Abraham, Jacob, and others.  

            I, much like the Israelites, had unintentionally put my hope in the gifts and people God had put in my life and not in God Himself.  This was a slow fade and not something I could even recognize until the rubble had settled.  While I was on the campus of Asbury, for the Outpouring, I spent some time revisiting some places that were Ebenezer Stones for me (Chapel, my dorm and apartment buildings, my favorite tree, the library).  The friends, I ran into on campus that day, also reminded me of some of the things God had brought me through while at Asbury, especially all the health issues.  There were several times when I left campus to go to the hospital that I wondered if that would be the last time, I saw Asbury in the rearview mirror.  

            Each place on that campus and story my friends recounted that day refreshed my hope in God.  I realized that I needed those stories rehearsed back to me in that moment to remind me to look at how far the Lord has brought me, and how the Lord alone is my help in every season.  This should be a regular practice for us.

            This practice can be especially vital in the dark moments when the problems cloud our view of God’s faithfulness.  Spending time in those physical places, writing a list, reflecting with a friend, or just spending time recounting the trials or suffering God has brought us through removes the focus from the current challenge and refocuses us on God’s faithfulness.  Let’s be honest we don’t always feel the closeness of God when we are in the middle of a storm, so raising our Ebenezer is one way to remind ourselves He is still faithful.

            What are your Ebenezers?  Is it a place or a list of ways God provided?  Take time today to recount the ways God has been your help.  Regardless of where you find yourself today, I pray you will see God’s faithfulness even in the trials.  May we land on His grace.