There are times when we need to stop and look back.
Not to live in the past. Not to rehearse every sorrow. Not to stay in the place God has already carried us through. But to remember the faithfulness of the Lord.
In 1 Samuel 7, Israel had been afraid and oppressed by the Philistines. They cried out to the Lord, and He helped them. He delivered them. He gave them victory when they could not deliver themselves.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12 NKJV).
Ebenezer means “stone of help.”
I love that Samuel did not let the moment pass unnoticed. He marked it. He gave Israel something they could see, something that would remind them, “We did not get here by our own strength. The Lord helped us.”
That is the heart of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is not pretending everything has been easy. It is not denying the grief, the waiting, the unanswered questions, or the seasons that nearly took our breath away. Thanksgiving is looking back over the road we have traveled and recognizing the hand of God along the way.
Samuel did not say, “Thus far we have managed.”
He did not say, “Thus far we have held ourselves together.”
He said, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”
Maybe today we need to raise an Ebenezer in our own hearts. To pause and say, “Lord, You were with me there. You carried me through that season. You gave strength when I was weak. You gave grace when I did not know how to ask for it. You helped me then, and I trust You now.”
Because if the Lord has helped us thus far, we can trust Him for what is still ahead.
Truth to Carry
Thanksgiving begins when we remember that we have not come this far by our own strength, but by the faithful help of the Lord.
Foundations in Scripture 