Do you remember all the wonders God has done to you? Do you remember to stop and say thank you? Samuel shows us how to remain faithful and remember your God also when things are going well.

When the Israelites had defeated the Philistines…Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD helped us to this very point.”(1 Sam. 7:12, CEB)

Ebenezer literally means the stone of help. It was erected to give thanks to God for helping AND to remind people of the wonders God has done. Ebenezer emphasizes God’s presence in our healing moments. Ebenezer denotes the importance of remembering that none of us is a self-made man/woman. Ebenezer promotes the grace of God in our lives.

God has helped us thus far. What will we do? Do we take the credit or do we give thanks to God? Every breathe we take is grace. Mercy is made new every morning. Great is God’s faithfulness, he has promised to take care of us until the end of the world. What will we do? Do we praise God and remember the wonders he has done, is doing, and will be doing? Or do we, especially when things are going well, insist on being self-made people?

How could we always remember the wonders of God with thanksgiving? What could be our own Ebenezer, the stone of help? Some people carry a small stone in their pockets. Some people wear a special bracelet or a scarf. Some people carry a Bible. Sometimes we need something tangible to continually remind us of God’s goodness to us.

Ebenezer calls us back to God.
Ebenezer reminds us that just as God has been faithful thus far he will be faithful.
Ebenezer calls us to count our blessings, give thanks and praise God.
Ebenezer encourages us to keep on keeping on when going gets tough.
Because God is faithful. He won’t let us down. We will overcome.

 

Gracious God,
Thank you that you have helped us thus far.
Be praised for your amazing grace!
Draw us to you,
remind us of your love,
enable us to remember your wonders.
We love you, we adore you.
We want to be faithful to you.
Empower us to remember you all of our days.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: How do you remember the wonders God has done for/through you?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you live your life praising God on the way!

Image courtesy of Aaron Justin. Some parts of this post have previously been published. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursdays &