“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.”

1st Samuel 7:12

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I’m 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.

I got the call and quickly cleared my schedule. My sister, Sonja, had just come back from the first scary medical test of our adult lives—she was in the waiting period when your mind wanders and spirals down all the worst case scenarios. The test ultimately came back in the clear but we didn’t know that at the time.

Have you gotten that call? Have you sat with loved ones waiting for a test result to come back? It is a scary time that shakes you out of your normal. It abruptly gets you out of the rut you’ve been traveling down. There is a pressure in that waiting space, but it can also focus your attention towards the things that really matter. These types of moments in life have a way of centering your mind on things of meaning and significance.

That’s why I cleared my schedule. I had become busy. I was living my life and traveling in my rut. But not after that call. Quickly, my brother and I made a plan knowing that our sister needed us. John and I wanted to help keep Sonja’s mind busy and save her from going down the rabbit hole. We, of course, wanted to show that we cared for her and that we were by her side, no matter what the results might say. And so we did the only thing that made sense given our shared story and history.

That afternoon the three of us met at John’s house and we watched Ghostbusters—that classic 80’s movie. Each of us quote the movie regularly, even still, because it was one of the things that bonded us together as we were growing up. Sure, it’s silly that an 80’s comedy movie could be an anchor for us but it was. And it still is. It is part of our story and I wouldn’t change it.

That day we sat in John’s living room. We laughed together. We cried a little about what might be. We asked questions and listened to one another. We supported. We prayed. We reminisced. It was a perfect day to get Sonja’s mind clear and invest some time in one another. It reoriented me. Other things were put on the back burner and ignored. That day I was exactly where I needed to be and I did exactly what I was supposed to do.

The reality is this: sometimes you need reminders of who you are and where you come from. And, especially on days that are rough and challenging, it is helpful to have an anchor from your past to help reorient you for the future.

That’s what we needed that day. An anchor from that past that would ballast the storm of today and give us some hope for tomorrow. It, of course, wasn’t the movie that did that—it was the time together doing something that we loved. And laughing together even in the midst of the scary possibilities.

As I mentioned, those tests came back clear. But other tests at other times were not. And each of us have had our bell rung by circumstances and situations in this life. When those moments hit my mind goes back to that afternoon of watching a movie. Ghostbusters has become a beautiful reminder for me. It encapsulates a moment in time and a truth about family. Despite our distance and the busyness of our lives, we show up for one another. And, in this fact, I see God’s wonderful provision for me to get me through hardship and challenge. A silly—albeit amazing—movie is my reminder.

Do you have a reminder that points to a time and a way that God saw you through hardship?

For Samuel, the reminder is a stone—an ebenezer. The definition is “stone of help.” Samuel stood it up on its end as a way to commemorate the victory that God provided over the Philistines. An ebenezer is a reminder of God’s saving help. It is a way for people to remember God’s good work on your behalf. It’s a physical reminder of a spiritual truth. It is an object lesson about a time God saw you through. These stones were ancient post-it notes—reminders and ways to keep memories fresh and fueled.

My hope is that you have a variety of reminders in your life that help you remember moments, victories, and goodness when God showed up. And I hope you collect a whole bunch of these mementos of memories. Put them in front of your eyeballs so that, when you are in need of some good old fashion hope, you can remember how God saw you through in the past. The past faithfulness of God is a downpayment of the Lord’s future provision as well.

Author and speaker Simon Sinek has ordered his life around optimism. And, he has attached this optimistic outlook to the color orange. For Sinek and others, orange elicits optimistic feelings. As such, Sinek is almost always wearing something that is orange. He keeps something orange in his eyesight regularly. He doesn’t want to loose sight of this driving force in his life. The color orange isn’t exactly an ebenezer—but it is certainly a reminder and an invitation to something more.

God has been faithful to you in your past. He will be faithful again in your future. However, sometimes that circumstances and challenges we face distract us from this truth. Raising an ebenezer is a spiritual practice of remembrance.

What is an Ebenezer in your life and how does it help you give thanks to God?