Ebenezer: God turns defeat into victory
1 Samuel 7:1-14
God has brought Rock Christian Centre to this point. This church is a testimony of God at work. God turned what looked like defeat into victory. God has brought the growth, development and multiplication to us as a church. God has grown this church in a deprived area.
- Israel’s corruption and immorality leads to defeat – God brought in Samuel to reset the priesthood and leadership of Israel. Eli was weak and his sons were wicked. Judgement came to Israel. Israel was defeated, Eli’s sons were killed, Eli died and the Philistines took the Ark of the Covenant from Israel.
- Samuel’s spiritual challenge – It took 20 years for Israel to turn back to God. They woke up and turned back to the one true God. They put away their idols and foreign gods. Samuel challenged them to love the Lord again.
- The Philistines attack – Then the Philistines attacked. The devil never wants to lose his grip. Do not be surprised when the devil attacks when you are seeking to obey God.
- The Lord turns defeat into victory – The Israelites urged Samuel to continue praying and the Lord turned defeat into victory. When we are broken before God we are at our strongest.
Are you struggling with defeat? We see in this story that when we return to the Lord, He turns defeat into victory. We can set up our own Ebenezer Stone and say “thus far the Lord has brought us”.