A Stone of Remembrance

by Lynn Mosher
(Louisville, KY)

Ebenezer? Who is that? No, not Scrooge. This Ebenezer was a what, not a who. In the Bible, Ebenezer means stone of help. It’s purpose? The Bible tells us.

At one time in Israel’s history, when they faced the Philistines, Samuel and Israel fasted, prayed, repented, and offered a sacrifice. God answered their plea by confusing and defeating the enemy that pursued them. To commemorate the fact that Israel was victorious and recovered all the territory the enemy had taken, Samuel set up a stone as a marker.

When he did this, he exclaimed, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!” (1 Samuel 7:12 NLT) Samuel, whose name meant heard of God, knew the Lord would hear them and be on their side in the future.

The Lord’s hand remained against the Philistines and the enemy never came into the territory of Israel again. Peace reigned throughout the land all the days of Samuel.

Did the enemy pursue you this past year as he did me? In the midst of all the raging storms against my life, God’s hand was evident to me. Did you experience the Lord’s presence with you? I felt His canopy of caring covering me. Were you aware of it over you? Didn’t He provide shelter and sustenance, even if in quantities less than desired?

Through all the contrary times, through sickness, through loss, through poverty, through grief, through trials, through temptations…the Lord has provided up to this point.

To celebrate the Lord’s goodness to me and my family during this past year, I will set up an Ebenezer stone of remembrance. Will you? That stone is the Lord. He is “The Stone of Israel,” (Gen. 49:24 NKJV), in Hebrew, the eben of Israel. Will He be your commemorative stone over the victories of the year that has just drawn its last breath?

As you place Him firmly in the present, He stands fixed between the years, as His presence casts a shadow over the past year, concealing its troubles, sorrows, and disappointments and transforming all the old…the old attitudes, the old habits, and the old ways.

Therefore, let us not carry into the New Year the baggage of regrets, unforgiveness, resentments, failures, ungrateful hearts, or disappointments in others or in ourselves, all of which weigh down our usefulness.

Out of the old, a newness arises through the regenerating grace of God, creating all things afresh, as God said through Isaiah, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is. 43:19 NKJV)

As the light of His guidance beams across the New Year, illuminating the passage into the land of the unknown, His road will take you through each dry wilderness to streams of fresh, flowing water.

Will you stand bravely at the threshold of the unknown, ready, willing, and obedient to follow the Lord, no matter where He may lead? Will there be room in the New Year for the Lord to do a new thing in your life, or will you be filled with more of the same from last year?

Enter His portal with thanksgiving, remembering His goodness over the past year and asking His blessings over the coming year. Will this be your attitude?

Will you make it a year of praise and worship from a grateful heart to its Maker? Will you praise Him for His past mercies? Will you thank Him in advance for His blessings of the future? Will you resolve to serve God greater than the year that has faded?

Instead of resolutions, ask yourself these questions for your New Year: How many grieving hearts can I console this year? How many lacking souls can I replenish? How many heavy-ladened spirits can I encourage?

May the Lord’s shadow of forgiveness conceal the disappointments and troubles of your year now past, while His light is cast as a beacon of guidance to His safe haven of the days yet to be explored. May His hand be against your enemy and His peace reign all your days.

I pray the eyes of the Lord will be upon your household “from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year” and His comfort and blessings fill every room of your home so that the sounds of joy can be “heard far in the distance.” May His servants Goodness and Mercy pursue you throughout the days to come.

Have a very happy New Year!