Red Sea Moments Prepare Us For The Future

Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
–1 Samuel 7:12

Another reason God gives us Red Sea moments is not only to help us through the present, but to teach us to trust Him for the future. Throughout Israel’s history, in all the challenges they would face in the wilderness and in the Promised Land, they could look back and remember this Red Sea moment and be reminded of God’s faithfulness.

The hymn “Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing” includes this significant, but perhaps not widely understood, line:

Here I raise mine Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I’m come.

Have you ever sung this hymn and wondered what an “Ebenezer” is? This term refers to a memorial that the nation of Israel could look back on and remember another Red Sea moment when God intervened on their behalf.

After years of trouble as a result of disobedience, the Israelites finally turned back to the Lord under the leadership of Samuel. The Lord restored Israel as the people repented and recommitted themselves to God.

To remind the people of God’s deliverance, Samuel placed a large stone at the place where their spiritual restoration began. The Bible says, “Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us’” (1 Samuel 7:12). This “Ebenezer stone” stood as a memorial to remind the people of the moment when God delivered them and to encourage them that God would continue to be with them in the future.

God wants us to have those kinds of moments in our life. We can look back on the moments when God helped us and be reminded of the faithfulness of God so that we can trust Him for the present and the future.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Seizing Your Red Sea Moment” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2005.

“Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing,” lyrics by Robert Robinson, 1758. Public domain.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.