Stones of Remembrance

OPENING

In my backyard, there are three stones that wouldn't make much sense to others. Smooth river stones, a piece of brick from an old building, even a chunk of concrete from a sidewalk where I once sat down to cry. To a visitor, they might look like trash or worthless remnants. But to me, each stone tells a story—not always of victory, but always of presence.

Maybe you also have your own collection of "stones," whether physical or symbolic. Places, moments, memories that whisper: "God was here." Not necessarily: "God fixed this" or "God gave me what I asked for," but simply: "God was here."

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

REFLECTION

When Samuel raised that stone, Israel wasn't living a fairy tale. They had been defeated, scattered, broken. The ark of the covenant—the very symbol of God's presence—had been captured by their enemies. For twenty years they lived with the pain of what felt like abandonment. But that day, something changed. Not because everything was fine, but because they encountered God right in the middle of their brokenness.

Samuel didn't wait to have total victory to raise his stone. He placed it right there, in the middle of the story, and declared: "Thus far the LORD has helped us!" Thus far.

Two words that acknowledge both the journey and what still remains. They don't claim that everything is already resolved, or that all questions have answers. They simply say: "Look how far we've come. Look who has been with us."

I raised my own Ebenezer in a hospital room, holding my daughter I would never see grow up. Not because I understood why, but because even in that sacred and broken moment, I knew I wasn't alone. The stone I carry from that day doesn't represent the answer I wanted—it represents the Presence that held me when I had no answers.

Your Ebenezer might also be in a place of loss. Or perhaps it's found in a moment of unexpected grace: a door that opened when you thought they were all closed, a friendship that arrived when loneliness seemed your only companion. The place doesn't matter. What matters is that you recognized the sacred in the ordinary, the eternal in the temporal, the divine in the difficult.

APPLICATION CHALLENGE

This week, raise your own stone of remembrance. It can be literal:

• a stone you place somewhere special
• a framed photo
• a verse you write and place where you'll see it often

Or it can be symbolic:

• a moment each morning where you remember a specific way God has made himself present in your story

CLOSING PRAYER

Lord, help us see you in both our victories and our valleys. Give us eyes to recognize your presence, even when we don't understand your plan. Thank you that your help doesn't always look like rescue—sometimes it looks like companionship. Sometimes it looks like strength to keep going when we can't anymore.

Help us raise stones of remembrance not only for the moments that made sense, but for those where You revealed yourself in ways that were worth more than any explanation.

Thus far you have helped us. And we trust You for what's to come. Amen.

FOR YOUR HEART