“Heretofore the Lord has helped us.”
1 Sam. 7:12 Amp
In all the highs and lows of the year closing, was God a small part of it, or was He in every part of it, helping you all the while?
He was there, in every part of your year, even if you didn’t recognize His presence. My guess is that He brought you through many situations. My guess is that He spoke to your heart with words of comfort and peace and quite possibly discipline, encouraged you through others, gave you hope for a renewed future, and fought for you, giving you victory.
At one time, Israel faced the Philistines, so Samuel and Israel fasted, repented, and offered a sacrifice and prayer. God answered their plea by confusing the enemy, overcoming them, and driving them back.
To commemorate Israel’s victory and recovery of all the territory the enemy had taken, Samuel set up a stone as a marker of remembrance, calling it Ebenezer, which means the stone of help.
When Samuel did this, he exclaimed, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!” (1 Sam. 7:12 NLT)
Can you say that? Heretofore or up to this point, the Lord has been your Stone of Help? Look back over the year now closing. With what was it filled? Which side of the scale tipped over with the most weight…the positive side or the negative side? Didn’t the Lord tip the scale to the positive side?
Last year may have its lingering troubles or disasters, but the Lord is gracious and will never leave you without His help or comfort.
No matter how the closing year played out for you, the New Year offers you a new beginning. Whatever it brings your way, the Father will carry you through it all and bring a host of others to lift you up in prayer and encourage you in your walk. He stands close, with His arms outreached, awaiting your call.
My prayer for each of you is that your heart will be guarded with the hope of a better new year and you will experience a special touch of the Lord’s presence upon all you do.
“Heretofore the Lord has helped us…”
…and He will yet again.
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Lynn writes devotionals and inspirational stories. She has one book waiting to be published in 2015 and is working on a second one. Her greatest passion is to fulfill God’s call on her life to encourage others and glorify the Lord with her writing. She currently writes for several sites and writes bi-weekly on her site, Heading Home. http://lynnmosher.com
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