He’s Still the Same

Today a friend shared a song with me that I’d never heard. It is Just As Good. Maybe it is one you are familiar with, but I wasn’t, and I fell in love with it. Please listen and watch this video.

I hope this encourages you as it has me. I only need to remember the past faithfulness of God to walk into each day, especially when things are hard.

Here is part of the refrain that spoke loudly to me:

And I will build an altar
And stack it stone by stone
‘Cause every Ebenezer says I’ve never been alone

I looked up the definition of Ebenezer and this is what I found: stone of hope.

Wow, who doesn’t need that today? The biblical reference is found in 1 Samuel. This is when Israel had sinned, repented, who needed and received victory over the Philistines to acquire more territory as God had instructed:

Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, explaining, “The LORD has helped us to this point.”

1 Samuel 7:12

This was a type of “memorial stone” of God’s protection and provision as we see when Israel crossed the Red Sea in Exodus 14. But throughout scripture we see evidence of God’s faithfulness memorialized by a name of a place or an altar built. This is what helps future generation see the Lord at work in previous eras.

I’ve written about memorial stones a number of times previously: Step On In, I Remember, What’s Up With All The Kings and Your Memorial Stones. It’s when I remember God’s previous work in my life, that I come to a place of faith, not doubting, that He is still in control and at work. I needed that reminder today.

Why would we trust anything short of Christ for our hope in life, and for eternity? He alone is the risen Savior who walks with us every step of our story on earth and then welcomes us into His eternal presence? He alone provides the kind of hope that truly does cover our heart in each and every circumstance in which we find ourself.

Chad Napier, in a Christianity Today article says:

But the stone of Ebenezer should signify to us that trusting in anything or anyone short of Christ is a precursor to failure. In defeat or failure, we must repent from misplaced trust and from leaving Christ out of the equation. If we recognize our misplaced trust and reverse course, He is there faithful to forgive, grant us mercy, and provide his guidance and protection.

Chad Napier

After listening to this song, my Bible reading had me in 1 Corinthians 15, reminding me to die to self (for salvation, and daily in repentance), watch God birth a new thing, and don’t’ give up in the midst of the hard place.

Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:36, 58

Do you need a new perspective on something as you enter 2022? I do, and I am grateful Jesus is the one who offers us His perspective as we take each step in faith this year. (See A New Year And…?)

Banner photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash