Looking Back at the Paths Travelled
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.
He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
- 1 Samuel 7:12 -
Every time I read or hear the word "Ebenezer", indeed, my heart skips a beat, as the word is a part of my name, and the name has been with me thus far! Moving beyond my personal and emotional attachment to this word, "Ebenezer" is powerful; whenever it is pronounced or heard, it brings tears of gratitude and thanksgiving to our hearts. Ebenezer reminds us of the path that we have come through. Ebenezer reminds us of the moment God found us - the lowest moment in life. Ebenezer reminds us of God's help in our lives. Ebenezer reminds us of the assurance we have in our lives as we look further in the path that's ahead of us. Ebenezer reminds us of God's faithfulness in our lives.
As we imagine ourselves standing near the stone that Samuel set up between Mizpah and Shen, we could say together with him in one voice, "Indeed, thus far the Lord has helped us!" As we say that in one voice, we are reminded of the many worldly dependencies we had in our lives, thinking they would help us in times of need. It could be our education, our job, our wealth, our savings, our insurance plan, our investments, the influential people around us and many more. But we could look at the moments when all of them, I mean every single one of them, could have failed, and they were useless in helping us get back on our feet. Only the Lord's presence, His lifting hands and His loving embrace were around us, and helped us to stand again firmly!
This is the real meaning of "Ebenezer". While we look back and realise that thus far the Lord has helped us, it should fill us with memories of all those moments when we were at our lowest, and the Lord found us there, slipped, fallen, ashamed and helpless. And from there, He has been helping us to reach this place in our journey where we can stand near Samuel and praise the Lord with thanksgiving in our hearts. The Lord will continue to help and will lead. That is the assurance we have as we look ahead at our paths that don't end anywhere. The path leads us into eternal life, and the Lord will help us all the way. One day, as we stand at the moment when our worldly life ends and our heavenly eternity begins, we will again turn, look back at the path we have come through, and we will again go on to say, "Ebenezer! Thus far the Lord has helped us."
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us, now and forever more. Amen.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Ebenezer Breman Veerasingam
"Remembering the ways I have been led 🎶"
sung in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam
by Vineetha Prince
(follow English Subtitiles)
