Sunday Blessings: Picking up My Stones

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."-- 1 Samuel 7:12

When the Israelites defeated the Philistines, the prophet Samuel raised a memorial to commemorate the victory. He named it Ebenezer, which means "stone of help." It was to remind everyone, including Samuel, that God was their help.

From the beginning, God has sealed special events with some kind of physical memorial.He gave Noah a rainbow.

He instituted the Passover feast as a memorial of Israel's deliverance from Egypt.

When he gave the law to Moses, he wrote it on two tablets so his people could see and remember.

The tabernacle, the ark itself, and the cloud that hovered over it were visible reminders of God's ever-present help.

In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus declared that Mary's gift of perfume, which she poured over him, should be a memorial.

What are the memorials in your life, the tangible reminders God has given you of his ever present help?

My orthopedic cane is one such Ebenezer for me. There was a time I could not take a step without it, due to my arthritis pain. I remember a cold and windy afternoon when I went to a wholesale medical store in the old part of the city to buy it.There was a traffic jam on the narrow streets, but my rickshaw driver helped me find the shop. I cried on the way home, wondering if I could ever walk properly again. I had almost forgotten how to walk.

But God be praised, as a result of prevailing prayers and medication I received healing a year and a half after I bought the cane. Now I don 't have to use it. I am unsteady on rough ground and have taken a few falls, but I can manage. Now my cane stands in a corner in the bedroom.

But I want to tell you that when I used my cane in public places I got lots of sympathy and kind treatment. I could jump queues- that was the best! LOL! Sometimes while waiting in a long line I wish i had my cane handy.

My eye glasses are also my Ebeneezer. An instrument of help to see better.My my hearing aid too is another one. It was the hardest to accept. I was born with sharp and perfect hearing and my hearing loss came to me as a big blow.The surgery I had in Christian Medical College, Vellore (South India), did not help at all. Sometimes I feel something blocking my left ear in which I had surgery, but I have not been to a specialist.

The sharpest thorns in my flesh are my poor eyesight and hearing. But God 's grace is sufficient for me. People with unseen disabilities like I have have extra struggles. In my country we don 't have any assistance for disabled people like me. Do reach out and help a disabled person today my friend.

Look for the memorials, the stones of remembrances in your life. Whatever they are- perhaps a ring, a family Bible, a pair of crutches, a pebble you picked up during a journey - they can be anchors to your soul. When pain becomes severe or sorrow crushing, you can remind yourself of that memorial set in place in a time of greater strength, and you can pray, "Oh, God, keep me faithful to that." Then rest your heart on the faithfulness of the One who has given you help in the past, that One who helped you raise the stone of remembrance in the first place.

God, your understanding of us is so great. You know that we need visible reminders of your faithfulness. Show me what reminders I can establish in my life that will stand in the face of all the future might bring.

(adapted and inspired by a devotional by Joni Eareckson Tada)