You’ve Come A Long Way!

By: Janiece Renee

Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the Lord has helped us!” - 1 Sam. 7:12

There’s an old song that says,

“We’ve come this far by faith.

Leaning on the Lord.

Trusting in His holy word!

He’s never failed me yet!”

There have been many Sunday’s where I’ve excitedly sung this song in church along with fellow believers. I’ve even put on my good alto voice and sung it with my home church’s choir. It seemed as though everyone in the whole congregation knew this song as if it’s lyrics were required for entrance into the church’s membership!

We sing this song often. And even if you haven’t sung it or heard it, you may have had heard the saying, “God wouldn’t bring you this far just to leave you” (unknown). It’s the same flavor, different meal. The point is that it’s easy to rehearse this idea out of routine. But the pressing question is, do you really understand what you’re saying? Do you really believe it?

I think this is important because life is filled with ups and downs. And the elders where I’m from used to say that if you haven’t experienced a rough season yet, just keep on living. Because life does not promise a smooth experience all the way through but, rather, includes both the good experiences and the bad.

So, what do you do when life gets you down?

I think 1 Samuel 7 shows us a great way to encourage ourselves in those seasons. And that is by intentionally reminding ourselves of how far God has brought us.

It is so easy to look at where you are and get discouraged because it doesn’t look like what God promised. Maybe you feel down because you’re a certain age and society has told you that your life is “supposed” to look a certain way by now but it doesn’t. Maybe you’re still trying to figure out what your passion is but you just can’t seem to figure it out and so you feel down because it seems like all your friends are sure about themselves. Or maybe you struggle to understand why you’re still single when you’re such an amazing woman of God?

In whatever your situation is, I want you to be sure of something.

IT’S OKAY, SIS!

First of all, when you’re a Girl + GOD, you’re already winning in life! So, don’t believe the lie of the enemy that you have some kind of deficiency when God has already given you so many victories to celebrate. You’ve come entirely too far because of the grace and power of God not to walk in that reality! That’s why we have to learn how to be intentional about reminding ourselves about how far God has brought us!

By reminding yourself that God has been with you the entire time, you can begin to encourage yourself to know that if He brought you this far, then there’s so much further to go. TODAY is not the end of your journey. And the same God that has kept you this far will continue to keep you.

Samuel did something tangible to remind himself and the people around him that God was here and that He’d brought them this far. It was a sign of a reminder that God is the same God who will always be there with them. And I wonder, what is your sign? What is your reminder? Maybe it’s a daily sticky note of one of His promises from Scripture. Maybe it’s a journal entry. Maybe you will vow to look in the mirror every day and declare His word over your life.

Whatever it is, I want you to be encouraged to know that it gets better from here when God is in it. You’ve come too far to give up now! 

Follow Janiece on IG @jayreneeiam