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“Here I raise my Ebenezer
Here there by Thy great help I’ve come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood.” (Come Thou Fount)

Ebenezer means stone of help. The name Ebenezer was assigned by Samuel
to the stone which he set up in commemoration of God’s help to the Israelites in their victory over the Philistines at Mizpah (1 Samuel 7:12). To me, Ebenezer means a specific time that God has been there to help me. Raising my Ebenezer is remembering that got helped me and brought me through something. Or, it means a time that I really felt God… that God was there for me, that God spoke to me, a sign that God revealed to me his authenticity.

Thanks to the grace of God, I have been blessed to have many Ebenezers in my life. I felt and saw God work in very specific ways while I was serving God in a foreign country one summer. I knew that it was God working because of the way that things happened so specifically; I knew that the statistical odds of things just happening that way were slim and God’s work seemed to build upon itself in miraculous ways. For instance, when I was part of a praying community for specific people, the people would seem to just show up right where we were praying for them. Weird. I am not a fan of tracks or standardized ways of Evangelism. I have seen too many people turned off by in your face or hell and brimstone rhetoric to be a fan of overt “Come be saved” sermons. In my own life, God has answered my prayers to use me in subtle and surprising ways… like God will open a door to conversation or nurture small ideas/seeds of inquiry. I have learned that Evangelism can mean being there for someone, sharing space with someone, be willing to be an instrument of God in someone’s life. I have learned that it is not all about the words; it’s not all about planning ahead. Sometimes, when you are open to it, it just happens. I have seen God bring people together at just the right time… I have felt God bring me to where I need to be when I need to be there. I have felt God word through the words of others. A few years ago, I hydroplaned on my way to work. My car spun around 2 lanes of traffic that are usually busy on my way to work and landed facing the correct way to continue in the middle of the road. Baffled and shaking, I saw that nobody was hurt. My car was in tact. I had hit nothing, but I had been completely out of control. (I love being in control!) So, shaken and terrified, I had nothing to do but continue on to work. When I arrived at work, my client was waiting for me with a bird house that he had made for me with a lovely note about how painting and making the bird house had made him less anxious. Reading this immediately calmed my nerves and eased my own anxiety.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have struggled with some anxiety. I cannot really articulate exactly why; my guess is that maybe my life is too busy. During this time of confronting my own humanity and need for rest, I am reminded that God is always there for me. He is always willing to talk to me. As I slow down and take the time to listen, I have been blessed to see many comforting signs. God speaks to me through His word; during a rough day, I woke up to the devotional verse “Only faith that is tried can triumph.” II Corinthians 2:14. I am a fan of opening the Bible and reading what comes out during my quiet time and I am often amazed at how closely the verses I find speak to my heart. On my longest day of the week, God spoke to me in the form of a rainbow waiting out in the parking lot for me at the days end. This reminded me of God’s promise to always be with me. God speaks to me through my friends and even my clients. God recently helped me reconnect with two other people who are experiencing anxiety and I found that my own recent experience seemed to help me know what words to say to them and made us know that we are not alone. God speaks to me by showing me that the blessings in my life are even more beautiful when contrasted to tough times. I realize that in many areas of my life are a breeze… that not everybody has such a wonderful husband whose support holds me together, that not everybody has a job that feels like a calling, that not everybody has a community who loves them or ample resources to solve their problems.
I am thankful for my gifts.. for the sound and logical mind that God has given me, for my gifts of writing and empathy for others. I admit that I am afraid to lose myself to fully take up the cross and follow Jesus. But I believe that Jesus will meet me where I am and give me the strength to use my gifts to serve him. With gratitude and hope, I am ready to serve. I pray that wherever you are in your journey with God that you may feel his presence and see signs of his presence in his life. I have learned from the story of Gideon that is is ok to ask for signs…. even second signs from God to give us clarity about where we should be going. I pray that love and peace be with you.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7