Alright, so I have lived in the same house for the last 13 years. I have even lived on my own there for the past 3 years. It was familiar, comfortable and safe. While this is doubtfully a new fact… I have a new home. I thought that calling a new place home would be horribly strange to say. But less than two days after moving… I was away from my new place and felt like I wanted to go “home” – my new apartment in a new city.
I thought long and hard about what it was that made such an unfamiliar place seem so familiar – seem like home. I guess it was knowing that all of my stuff – all of my objects, possessions and things holding memories were in this new place.
So if home is where the heart is, does that mean that my “heart” is connected to all of my stuff? And what does that say about my relationship with God… a lot I think…
Now, bear with me… this may not connect for you as it did for me…
I have come to a place in my life – finally – that I am content with who I have allowed God to make me. I know that I do and will always have traits, flaws and weaknesses that God will need to change in me, but I am utterly grateful for who He has made me into thus far. So how do I feel at peace with who I am – how do I feel “at home” in my own skin?
No matter where I am or what I am going through, I am home as myself because of two things – in order of importance:
One – I have a relationship with my Creator, the author and finisher of my faith, and the one who has promised to finish the good work He started in me.
Two – I have everything God has allowed me to keep in order to make me who I am today… every pain, every joy, every tear, every laugh, every smile, every wonderful memory and many of the horrible ones, every relationship He has put in the life, all my lessons learned, all the things I have yet to learn, all the gifts He has given me, all the weakness He has allowed me to keep, all my failures, all the times people have failed me, all my successes, all my blessings and all my burdens. Now I do not bear these things alone – Christ bears them for me – but all remain in my life to remind me of God’s sovereign hand in my life and His love for me…. these are my Ebenezer Stones.
In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel raised up a stone to remind the Israelites of God’s help in their battle against the Philistines. He raised the stone and named it Ebenezer – meaning “stone of help”. So it is this move that has reminded me that no matter what circumstance and place the present and/or future holds, it is the past of our lives – all those Ebenezer Stones we have raised up along the way – that remind us of all those times that God has proved himself our wonderful God of Help.
I pray you spend time raising Ebenezer Stones in your life – either journal or place something in your frequent vicinity that will remind yourself of God’s help in your life.
