On Sunday we looked back on our year and followed up with Samuel’s story of raising an ebenezer, an altar in recognition of God’s faithfulness. It’s easy to fixate on the tragedies of your year, traditionally we look at the negatives from last year and make resolutions to fix/improve or save ourselves from them moving forward. But friends, we don’t have to live this way. We have a good Father in Heaven that has shown up for us time and time again, no matter the hurts we have faced in this fallen world. Because we trust that God is good, we can simultaneously mourn with our spiritual family while recognizing and celebrating what He is doing and has done in our lives.
What did God do for you this past year? I saw God bring new families into our church family. I saw spiritual growth in so many people. While we have cried and prayed with those that have received hard news, we have also seen favorable diagnosis and God’s hand in aligning His perfect timing in circumstances that we couldn’t have imagined otherwise.
Loving God and resting in His promises doesn’t guarantee an easy life, Jesus even told us that we would face trials in this life. However, when we choose to look back and reflect on God’s faithfulness, we raise our own ebenezers – in recognition of where we saw Him shine. I have seen God’s goodness too many times to not believe that He will do it again! I have seen His “not yet” turn into a delayed blessing that wouldn’t have made sense if He handed it over in my timing.
Brothers and sister, I encourage you to go before the Father in prayer and petition for the yearnings He has placed on your heart. But, before you do, build Him an altar of your own, out of the ebenezers – the real life examples of what He has done for you. When you remember what God has done in your life, it builds your faith into what you know He is capable of doing (spoiler: it’s everything, He can do it all). You will pray bold prayers. You will expect God to show up, like He’s done before.
We each took a stone and took time to write words on it that served to remind us of events from the past year that wouldn’t have been possible without God. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to keep it going, until I have a front yard rock garden full of reminders that God loves us.
Heavenly Father, I know the circumstances we face are not always perfect in our eyes. Yet I have seen You delay what I wanted so You could bless me in Your perfect timing. I have watched You move in the hearts of others to accomplish Your greater plan. God, I trust that Your ways are infinitely better than my own. As I place my confidence in the evidence of Your goodness, I will continue to build my altar—stone by stone—each one a reminder of where You have shown up before and a declaration of my faith that You will do it again.