A Closer Walk

My name is Emily Keller and I am the granddaughter of Greg Worthen. I agreed to write for the column over the next couple weeks as a guest contributor.
Charles Spurgeon, a nineteenth century preacher in London, once said, “To trust God in the light is nothing, but to trust him in the dark - that is faith.” I think every Christian will agree that it is easy to say we have faith when things are going well, but we all struggle when the storms of life hit and the dark clouds swirl around us, dampening our vision of God and where He is leading us. How do we have faith in God when darkness closes in? One way we learn to trust God is through Ebenezer stones.
In 1 Samuel 7, the people of Israel are gathered at a place called Mizpah, rededicating themselves to the Lord. The Philistines (enemies of Israel) hear that the Israelites are there and come to attack while the people of Israel are gathered together. Samuel, Israel’s leader at that time, sacrifices a lamb and leads the people in praying to God for deliverance. God does deliver them, confusing the Philistines and allowing the Israelite men to pursue and defeat them. Verse 12 in the ESV states, “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Till now the LORD has helped us.’” The word “Ebenezer” literally means “stone of help.” Samuel sets up this stone to serve as a reminder to Israel of how God had delivered them that day. Whenever Israel would be tempted to think that God did not remember them, would not deliver them, or was unfaithful to His promises, they could look to that stone and whisper, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”
This was not the first time a sign had been given to help Israel remember what God had done in the past. God created the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to help Israel remember how He had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, redeeming their firstborn sons when the Egyptians’ firstborn sons were killed (Exodus 12-13). He also established the Feast of Booths to help the Israelites remember their time wandering in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:33-44). Additionally, God instructed Israel to set up memorial stones from the Jordan River to remember when He stopped the river’s flow and allowed them to cross on dry land (Joshua 4). There are numerous similar remembering incidents throughout the Old Testament. Clearly, remembering what God has done in the past is very crucial for our spiritual life in the present.
What do these kinds of Ebenezer stones do for our walk with the Lord? Remembering God’s goodness in the past builds our faith in the midst of trials in the present and the uncertainty of the future. We can remind ourselves, “If God provided for our needs then, He can provide for them now.” “If God gave me strength through those health problems, He can grant me strength to face these new ones.” “If God walked us through those relationship struggles, He can guide us through these as well.” We can look back to how God guided us through past trials and say, “Till now the Lord has helped us.”
There is a specific type of Ebenezer stone every Christian must set up in their minds and remember; our salvation through Christ. The apostle Paul wrote to Gentile (non-Jewish) believers, “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13 ESV). We are called to remember what we are saved from; separation from God, alienation from the people of God, hopelessness, and life without God. Yet Paul also reminds his readers that they had been brought near to God and His people through the blood of Christ. If we have been saved by grace through faith, we need to remember what Christ did for us. We must remember, each time we sin, that Christ’s blood covers all of our guilt. We must remember that even in the most difficult trials, Christ suffered even more for our sake. We must remember that if God could bridge the eternal gap between Himself and us through Jesus’s sacrifice, He can mend our broken relationships on earth. We must remember, each time we see something sad and wrong with the world, that through faith in Christ, we will be with God one day when He makes all things new.
We must never forget what God has done for us. As Charles Spurgeon also said, “If you cannot trust God for the temporal, how dare you trust him for the eternal?” If we can trust God for our eternal salvation, can we not trust Him in any earthly trials? We must put up those Ebenezer stones, whether a physical or mental reminder, and trust that since God has helped us in the dark places before, He can help us in dark places now.