Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
I am a sucker for a good story. Maybe that's what drew me to study English (that otherwise remains a great mystery to this day.) There's just something about a good story that will have me reflecting for days, weeks even. My favorite piece of a story is the character arch. I love watching a character develop and progress and at the end reach a beautiful life changing epiphany. You don't always see it coming, you don't believe the character has the capacity change or grow, but somehow along the way, along a seemingly random and sometimes cruel series of events, the transformation happens. Beautiful, glorious, amazing. You look back through the story (well at least I do - English major here) and pick up the clues. A conversation, a passing happenstance, holds infinite significance. And often it is in the moment of greatest despair that the character finds his redemption. I've always admired fiction writers. The ability to create life-like characters and bring them on a journey of the soul is a talent I don't possess. I observe life as it happens, but to have the foresight and the vision to create and change a life… that is next to godliness.
God, is all about stories… and characters… and changing people. The Bible, the very Word of God, given to us, His people… is a collection of stories. Real life, real people, real struggle. How beautiful, that our Lord chooses to reveal Himself to us in the lives of His people, in a way that we can relate to. I don't know about you, but when I read a good book, I find myself in the story. I see the characters' struggles and I can relate. I see their transformation and I myself am transformed. There is something powerful in a story and our infinitely loving Father knows that. So he gave us His stories. The stories He wrote in the lives of His people. A blueprint for life. The comfort that someone else has been there. The knowledge that there is hope for redemption. But of course He didn't stop there. He is the master of all our stories and has been weaving the most beautiful and intricate adventures with our own lives since the very beginning. He is our Author, the perfecter of our faith and he knows what he's doing. All the bumps and bruises, all the pain and heartache in the life are all for a purpose. Romans 8:28 reminds us that God works all things together for the good of those who love him… For he predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son… So that he might be glorified. All the circumstances we find ourselves in are for a purpose. They are leading us on a journey of the soul…. to be transformed…. to be sanctified and made more like Christ…. and ultimately to bring glory to God the Father who wrote it all.
Throughout the old testament, God's people were instructed to build altars, in remembrance of His work in their lives. The altars normally consisted of an arrangement of stones. They represented a sacred encounter with the Living God. Their purpose what to help us remember the acts, the faithfulness of God. To name a few;
After Jacob is given a new name:
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.[g]
After the Lord restored Israel:
Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—"the stone of help"—for he said, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!" —1 Samuel 7:12
After the Israelites crossed the Jordan:
And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying: “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” Joshua 4:19-24
Now I'm not much of a builder and I'm not great with heavy lifting, but I believe I need to construct my own kind of altar to help me remember the Lord's faithfulness in my life. I am staring down the barrel of a brand new chapter in my life. In a few short months I will change my name and start a new life with my husband. Our journey to the altar has been wrought with heartache and growing pains but absolutely filled with God. Before I step into this new life, I want to document our journey, the amazingly beautiful story that God has written with our lives. I want to raise my Ebenezer saying, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!." I want to construct an altar for my children, so they might "know the hand of the Lord.". As I am given a new name, I want to embrace my new identity. I want to record my own character arch, woven by the Author of our faith. I want to write our story.
Over the next 11 weeks (amidst wedding planning, overseas honeymoon planning, tour planning and moving) I will attempt this. It may not go according to plan. As though I need anything more to add to my insanity! But it is my prayer that this process will help prepare me for my next chapter. I invite you into my journey… into my story… and I pray that it will be an encouragement to some of you out there. It is - after all - written by God.
