Stone of Help, Part 2
On a particularly sunny morning I took my dog, Tanner, for a hike on a 5-mile out and back trail. Ordinarily, I hike a brisk pace to elevate my heartrate to experience a cardio workout. I decided to change it up and make this one a letting go and looking up meditative one with a leisurely pace. I told myself I want to observe more detail in God’s nature. Colors, shapes, sounds, and smells. What started out as a walk for a physical benefit turned into an existential moment, more accurately, and Ebenezer moment. Viewing God’s nature in greater detail is one thing, but allowing God to assist you recalling the dark and dusty details in your life is whole another matter. This kind of deep dive may cause the buzzards to circle and start looking for dead stuff.
As I scanned the field to see where Tanner roamed, I looked down and saw a unique stone. The shape was flat and smooth on one side and curved on the other. I reach down and picked up the weighty stone despite its small size.
I thought how ironic that this stone doesn’t look like it could weigh that much but looks deceive. Sometimes our burdens, guilt, regret, bitterness, and shame become weightier matters beyond what we can manage to ignore. My meditative thoughts shifted to the negative and burdensome emotions I needed to let go. As I traveled along the path, one of those troubled thoughts would cross my path and I consciously let it go into the rock I held tight. Walking, mediating, and remembering. I visualized moving each troubled emotion, and then another into the stone of help.
As I neared the turnaround point of my journey, I noticed two large, rounded boulders just ahead, just a short distance off the trail, probably pushed there by an ancient glacier or maybe a bulldozer. I asked myself. Am I willing to let go of the stone? Do I need to carry my stone home, or should I leave it behind? Once I made the choice to let go of the stone, I decided on my way back past the boulders I would place my Ebenezer stone on top of the boulder.
The moment came when I gently positioned the stone in the center of the boulder which God’s hand fashioned. I release what I was so that I could become what God created me to be.
I walked away looking skyward with the fresh wind of gratitude in my soul, having left my burdens there. God, in concert with nature, wanted to give me one more sign. A circling buzzard! How did this scavenger know I left dead stuff behind. The old buzzard seemed to glide and stop overhead for a brief second. I looked up and yes, I not only saw the buzzard but the shape of a cross with it’s winged frame. I remembered Paul’s statement of how God works in a life, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18)
Just like a stone which is made of ridged material, our heavy emotions will cause us to be inflexible and keep us from seeking a better path for our lives. Also, a stone can be helpful, too. It can be used to build things and start fires. Jesus said of himself that he was the cornerstone. He is a God of mercy that is not easily broken and can send his Holy Spirit that can start an unquenchable fire in our hearts.
Today, we can have an Ebenezer Moment in our lives. We can remember the times that God has shown us wisdom, guidance, and mercy. One example I like to use is a journal writing. It consists of prayers, Scripture that has spoken to your heart in a moment, and quotes from pastors and Christian books read. In times of trials and triumphs, daily journal writing helps to remember the times you let go and looked up.
There are other ways to create Ebenezer moments in your life. Maybe we have a plaque or some special gift that defines an Ebenezer moment we have experienced. Today, I think we can incorporate the idea of an Ebenezer daily. All we need to do is look around and we can find something that God’s hand has shaped. God is our stone of help. God transforms our troubled relationships. We all have had times when we know without God, we would not have made it through. That’s when we can raise our stone of help, our Ebenezer, and remember the grace bestowed on us. Look around, let go and look up!