“Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’ve come". - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson)
We are nearing the Christmas season, one which serves as a significant reminder to many Christians across the world. As I reflect on this, I think about the other events/milestones/achievement for which we have reminders. Birthdays, wedding anniversaries and more solemnly memorials of the passing of loved ones, just to name a few.
It is expected that we keep reminders of the significant events or occurrences in our lives. As Christians, we all should have significant victories on our faith journey. Do you have memorials or reminders for how the Lord has blessed you, saved you?
Ebenezer: A Monument of Thankfulness
In 1 Samuel 7: 12, we read “then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us”. In , Manuscript 62, E.G. White wrote, “Samuel set up a monument of thankfulness”. What are the monuments of thankfulness in your life?
We are often forgetful and so distracted by all of life’s happenings and obstacles that they crowd out the memories of the work God has done in our lives. In a previous post, “Giving Thanks with a Grateful Heart,” we discussed what gratitude meant. When we keep in mind how God has blessed us, what He has brought us through and to, we cannot help but to demonstrate a grateful heart.
If you’re like me, with an abysmal short-term memory, it might help for you to keep a journal. As we go through our day-to-day, there will always be something that calls to remembrance God’s faithfulness, whether big or small.
Faithful Reminder
In Lamentations 3:22-23, Jeremiah wrote, “it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new each morning, great is thy faithfulness”.
There is an old gospel song that goes, “roll back the curtains of memories now and then, show me where you brought me from & where I could have been…so remind me, remind me dear Lord”. A grateful heart goes hand in hand with a faithful memory. When we remember how much/what God has done, when we reflect on the help he has afforded us, we can’t help but to worship His name and testify of Him to others.
Have you ever found yourself doubting God’s power in a particular situation? Or even just thinking that He might have given up on you, or that your circumstance is not dire/important enough for Him to intervene? I challenge you to set up your personal Ebenezer, your monument of thankfulness so that in moments when your faith seems to wane you can be reminded.
Having a monument of thankfulness reassures us of God’s faithfulness and allows us to see his promise to never leave nor forsake us fulfilled many times over in our lives. With this knowledge we can pray, like Jehoshaphat and David with the confidence that what God has done many times before, He will do again.
Roll Back The Memories
If ever you are tempted to doubt His divine power, just roll back the pages of your journal to remind yourself of who God is. Even further, I challenge you to daily add something to your monument of thankfulness. Even if it is the fact that you woke up each day, that is significant enough. Gratitude multiplies so as you find more reasons to give thanks, you will receive even more to keep the thanks flowing.
Pray
Father, for your faithfulness I give you thanks. Today I can reflect in awe at how far you’ve taken me from. Because I can testify of your faithfulness, I know I can go forward with the confident assurance that you will never leave me. Remind me, when my memory fails, that you are a very present help. Remind me so I can testify of your goodness to others. Amen.
