Day 17 - Enjoy the Silence

1 Samuel 7:5-13 ----

⁵ Next Samuel said, "Get everybody together at Mizpah and I'll pray for you."

⁶ So everyone assembled at Mizpah. They drew water from the wells and poured it out before God in a ritual of cleansing. They fasted all day and prayed, "We have sinned against God."

So Samuel prepared the Israelites for holy war there at Mizpah.

The Place Where God Helped Us

⁷ When the Philistines heard that Israel was meeting at Mizpah, the Philistine leaders went on the offensive. Israel got the report and became frightened—Philistines on the move again!

⁸ They pleaded with Samuel, "Pray with all your might! And don't let up! Pray to God, our God, that he'll save us from the boot of the Philistines."

⁹ Samuel took a young lamb not yet weaned and offered it whole as a Whole-Burnt-Offering to God. He prayed fervently to God, interceding for Israel. And God answered.

^10-12 While Samuel was offering the sacrifice, the Philistines came within range to fight Israel. Just then God thundered, a huge thunderclap exploding among the Philistines. They panicked—mass confusion!—and ran helter-skelter from Israel. Israel poured out of Mizpah and gave chase, killing Philistines right and left, to a point just beyond Beth Car. Samuel took a single rock and set it upright between Mizpah and Shen. He named it "Ebenezer" (Rock of Help), saying, "This marks the place where God helped us."

^13-14 The Philistines learned their lesson and stayed home—no more border crossings. God was hard on the Philistines all through Samuel's lifetime. All the cities from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored. Israel also freed the surrounding countryside from Philistine control. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

HEY HEY HEY!

So, this is a long passage, but check this out, a lot of times in the Old Testament, people would build stone monuments to represent when they heard from God. It helped them remember God's faithfulness. Most of the times these stones were given names, in this story it is Ebenezer, which means stone of help.

Think of the moments God has done a major work in your life. How do these experiences serve as monuments to remind you of God's ongoing work in your life?

Think about one moment in particular. Where did it occur? A camp? A worship service? Did it happen at a really good place in your life? Or doing a really hard time? Ponder that for a while.

As you look back to your "Ebenezer" moment, consider what you learned about God in that place. How did God help you, or touch you? If there were a plaque on the monument, what would it say?

Okay, reflect on all of this, take that moment and set it up before God as a stone that marks His presence in your life saying, "Thus far has the Lord helped me."

-Colton