Remembering His Help

Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
1 Samuel 7:12


Observation:
Samuel confronted Israel about their sin and exhorted them to turn to God from their idolatry. As the people gathered to repent and to renew their vows to the Lord, the Philistine army came down to wage war against them. Israel was confused and afraid. They asked Samuel to intercede to God on behalf of the people. Samuel offered sacrifices and cried to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord heard his prayer and with supernatural thunder he confused the Philistines. God gave a great victory to Israel that day. As a response for what the Lord did, Samuel decided to place a stone in order to remember how the hand of the Lord came to their aid. He named the stone “Ebenezer,” which means, “the stone of help.”


Application:
Why was so important to remember god’s help? Because Israel was going to face many more trials, many more enemies, and many more adverse situations where only the hand of God could deliver them. The stone was set there to send a constant message to the people and to generations to come that the Lord is a helping God. He comes in our aid when we pursue intimate relationship with Him. He wants to be our protector, our deliverer, and our father.
We must be diligent in placing memorials that will help us to remember that God is on our side when we remain by His side. We must remember those Ebenezer moments in which God has come to rescue us miraculously. We need those memorials around especially in seasons where we feel oppressed and cornered by the enemy. The memorials will be very effective in giving us hope, encouragement, and positive attitude when we find ourselves surrounded by hostile forces.
I recently live two Ebenezer moments with the Lord. The first was with our church in New Hope Diamond Head. The moving process to the Diamond Head Theatre was going to be difficult and monumental. We had not enough experience, resources, or people to do it on our own. We prayed and cried out to the Lord. Then the Lord heard our prayer and miraculously provided for everything we couldn’t supply for ourselves. He truly came to help us and took us to a season of blessing and growth. The second Ebenezer moment was in my personal finances. Last year I acquired credit card debt due to unexpected expenses with my family’s health and costly car repairs. A month ago I prayed to the Lord for help in this area and He heard my cry. Someone gave us a monetary gift that covered the exact amount of our debt.
Today I feel strongly encouraged to set memorials for these two Ebenezer moments in my life. I’m sure that I will not use stones, but I will find some creative ways to remember that God is our help in times of trouble.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank you so much for being so faithful in providing your hand of help in times where I’m completely incapable to help myself. Please remind me that you are a helping God when I find myself cornered by the opposition of the enemy. Help me to walk closer to your side in order to have your favor and mercy always. Please don’t let me become independent from your presence and grant me more intimacy and insight of your heart. Help me to find creative ways to set memorials in our church and in our home that will remind us of your faithfulness and helping hand over us. Continue blessing our church and never let your Holy Spirit be away from us. We cannot bring people closer to you without you. We need you more than anything. I love you Jesus. AMEN!