Chase The LionSample

“So Far So God”

After the Israelites pulled off an upset victory over the Philistines, the prophet Samuel built an altar and named it Ebenezer, signifying that the Lord had helped them up to that point. The altar was a way of saying to the people, “The God who did it before can do it again.”

We all need Ebenezers. Reminders that the God who got us here will get us there. That the God who did this will do that. An Ebenezer is a way of recognizing and celebrating the success God has given us along the way in pursuing our dream.

After our church built our coffeehouse on Capitol Hill, we decided to name it Ebenezers. We were afraid that some people would associate it with Ebenezer Scrooge, but it was a risk worth taking. There were so many miracles in the process of purchasing, rezoning, and building our coffeehouse that we wanted to name it what it was.

On our coffee sleeves at Ebenezers, there is a Scripture reference that looks like a SKU code—ISAM712. There are also initials, SFSG. The initials stand for So Far So God.

In every dream journey, there are Ebenezer moments. You’ve got to celebrate those milestones by building altars. Then you’ve got to surround yourself with those life symbols so you don’t forget what God wants you to remember.

I don’t believe that our greatest shortcoming is not feeling bad enough about what we’ve done wrong. I think our greatest shortcoming is not feeling good enough about what God has done right. When we under-celebrate, we fall short of the glory of God.

One of the commands in the Old Testament Law is a seven-day celebration (Leviticus 23:39-43). Question: when was the last time you celebrated anything for seven days? God challenged the Israelites to celebrate longer, to celebrate better. That’s like a command to eat cupcakes!

And God didn’t just mandate weeklong celebrations. He also commanded a yearlong honeymoon for newlyweds (Deuteronomy 24:5). Hubba-hubba!

We need to celebrate more.

We need to celebrate better.

Why? Because thus far the Lord has helped us.

What God-given victories can you celebrate in the course of chasing your God-given objective so far?