Their Way Their Day

4/9/2016

1 Samuel 7.12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, [“stone of help”] saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

When I read these accounts in the Old Testament of the relationship between Israel and God, it seems the people used God as a good luck charm or some kind of genie to bail them out of whatever jam in which they found themselves. It seems the Israelites used God, or tried to, much like the pagans used their gods – everything was okay until they needed something and then they pull out whatever idol and cried out to it until something happened. Boy, does that sound familiar in our day and age…

The account of Ebenezer is not so much an account of an idol as it is an account of remembrance: “Thus far the Lord has helped us…” It’s not that God isn’t helping us, but we need to be careful to stay out of the mental trap that says God only helps us when it hits the fan. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

God desires to be our Friend. Yes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. But a friend only used, is a friend that’s abused. If you’re only my friend when I’m in the midst of trouble, then you’re not really my friend; you’re my tool; my friend with benefits. What a sad state of affairs.

Samuel set up the stone to help the Israelites remember all of the good things God had done for them. But their attitude was continually: where is God when I need Him!? They took God for granted. It’s not that God wasn’t with them; they weren’t with God. They continued to disobey God in every part of life and when life went to hell around them then they needed Him. God doesn’t exist to bail me out: He will walk with me through my difficulties, but He isn’t there just so I can live as if He doesn’t care.

I am learning that the way to live is to continually thank God for the things He is doing on my behalf and to enjoy His presence. I’m not to set up stones of remembrance – I am to thank God continually. My problems ought to cause me, not only to pray, but also to thank God for hearing my prayer; and to respond as He sees fit to benefit my life, my character, and my faith.

If God is only a turn-on-turn-off switch, guess what: I’ll use Him as just that. But He isn’t and I’m to talk to Him about my issues, and trust that He is listening, and wait patiently for His response. Samuel needed a stone of help to help them to remember; I just need to remember to thank God.

Father, You dealt with them Your way in their day. I expect You to deal with me in my day, Your way. I don’t know how the issues I have will be resolved, but I do expect them to be resolved and to be amazed at what You’ve done and how You’ve done it. Thank You for hearing my prayers, and thank You for acting on my behalf because You love me and care about me – Amen.