My Solid Rock

2 Sam 22:2-3

My friend Jan has a stone named Ebenezer. She picked up the rock during a hard trial as a reminder that God is her help. You can read about it on her blog Jewels of Encouragement.

Jan challenges her readers to get their own Ebenezers. She suggests we each find a rock and put it in a place where we’ll run across it occasionally to remind us that God is our help. I might do that, but I already have an Ebenezer. Mine’s not a physical stone; it’s an emotional one.

When I go through trials, I feel like I’m swimming in rough waters. I can swim, but fighting the storm wears me out. I get tired and need help to keep from sinking. That’s when I put my feet down and feel the Rock beneath me. When I stand on the Rock, the waters don’t necessarily calm down, but I’m on a solid surface that keeps me from being swept away.

I first pictured this Rock under my feet when Neal was diagnosed with leukemia and the doctors offered no hope. Through the days of waiting in the hospital while he was in a coma, I was overwhelmed, but I frequently put my feet down to stand on the Rock. Afterward, some people told me I was so strong because I survived the trial with my faith intact. 

I wasn’t strong, the Rock was.

I thank God that I haven’t experienced any more trials that overwhelming. But there have still been many times when I’ve needed to put my feet down and stand on the Rock.

It’s always there.

He’s always there.

Jesus is always there.

Like Jan, I love a hymn that reminds me of this precious truth.

The Solid Rock (by Edward Mote)

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. 

Refrain:
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil. 

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

My Ebenezer is named Jesus and He is indeed my help.