Drawing our line in the sand reminds us how good God has been to us, and allows us to move forward to our God given destiny. Learn more.
In our last article we celebrated coming to the end of the COVID season, and how God is leading us forward in our lives with Him.
I believe that this passage from 1 Samuel 7:2-13 will show us what it means to have God leading us forward, as well as some potential pitfalls that we need to watch out for.
Before we go on, let’s read this amazing story together.
We’ll take you through a blow by blow of this passage, but first, I’d like to give you a spoiler - things start going in Israel's favor when Samuel draws a line in the sand.
Jumping to verses 12-13, you’ll see that Samuel drew his line in the sand between Mizpah and Shen. The enemy was attacking but Samuel drew that line in the sand by placing a stone marker there. They weren’t going to give up any ground. They acknowledged how God had helped them by naming the stone Ebenezer or the “stone of help”, and saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” Then the enemy was subdued and stopped invading, and the hand of the Lord was against their enemy.
What an amazing ending! What an amazing God we serve!
Now that we know how it ends, let’s look at the rest of the story to see how they got there.
You’ll be surprised how similar our experience and ancient Israel’s are. We all go through journeys, especially with our struggles. If I’m struggling (as Samuel and the Israelites were), drawing that line in the sand and acknowledging God’s help so far, might not be the easiest thing for us to do.
Their journey which I believe will speak to our hearts, will show us how we can draw our line in the sand, and move forward with Him in the post COVID era.
We see that the story opens with the Ark, which represents God’s presence with Israel, missing from the Temple. This sets the backdrop. Israel was experiencing a time when they felt far from God.
Perhaps we feel far from God. But God didn’t abandon them. And even more so for us saved by Jesus’ finished work on the cross – even when we feel God is far from us, or we are far from God, He has never left us.
To make things worse, Israel was under attack from the Philistines.
This is where Samuel starts to lead Israel through this to God’s perfect plan for them. Samuel told them that they need to move forward – to give their hearts to God, to draw a line in the sand and to move forward. They could not do nothing or retreat, they had to move forward.
The enemy never wants us in alignment with God’s plan for us, because that’s the best plan for us, and for all those that we encounter. So, the moment you come into alignment with God’s plans for you, the enemy will attack. The enemy doesn’t want us to move forward. But God is greater than the enemy, and God wants us victorious. So, while the enemy may attack, that’s only a temporary setback if we follow through with God’s plan for us. The only way for us to be defeated by the enemy is for us to give up on God’s plan for us, retreat or do nothing, and let the enemy defeat us.
Encountering God Again
The first thing Samuel needed to do to start Israel on her forward path was to lead Israel into an encounter with the Lord.
No amount of our own effort can lead us forward in God’s plan. Only God can lead us forward in His plan. We need to be aligned with His plan. Only then will our actions mean anything.
Israel needed to assemble, fast and confess, and Samuel offered a suckling lamb as a burnt offering. The good news for us, is that this part is much simpler. As Believers, Jesus is our Lamb who takes away our sin. Our part is now to just come before Him again, sit at His feet, and surrender our plans in favor of His perfect plan for us.
One encounter with God is all that is needed. God can shift our destiny in a moment, a moment of faith changes everything – healing, provision, salvation – all happen in a moment.
Have you noticed how everything changes when someone encounters the Lord in the Bible? Their lives are invariably changed, “from that day forward…”.
If that could happen for Israel through the sacrifice of a lamb, how much more will that happen for us through the sacrifice of the Lamb?
Choosing God – Drawing our line in the sand
Lots of people met Jesus in the Bible. But those who encountered Him had their lives transformed “from that day forward”.
The difference between just coming across Jesus and encountering Him is the decision to choose Him, to choose His plans for us, to move forward with Him.
In verse 12, we see Samuel drew a line in the sand by using a stone as a marker. the stone as a marker of when they will start to move forward. Then Samuel named the stone Ebenezer (meaning “stone of help”), and reminded Israel that “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
When we draw our line in the sand, 2 things happen.
First, we leave our past in the past. There’s no going back, only forward. We’re saying, “God I don’t want to go back to discouragement, doubt, fear, and defeat. I’m drawing a line here and moving forward with you.” We recognize that God is doing a new thing in our lives.
Next, we remember that God brought us victoriously to this point. God preserved us through every challenge, and we’ve learnt from it, and that’s built us to receive our destiny in Him, moving forward with him.
A renewed mind
I know how difficult that can be, so once we’ve decided to follow Him forward, the first thing we need is to renew our minds, and see things from a fresh perspective, the true perspective.
Thankfully, Samuel gives us some guidance in this too.
To Israel, it seemed like God had abandoned them, when in fact God had never abandoned them. God was with them, and calling them into a new season, but first, God had to change their perspective.
Like Israel, we need to see that no matter how big our difficulties, God can handle it. We need to leave our old, defeated mindsets behind, because old mindsets don’t work in a new season. If we’re not careful, we can start to see our past as our future. If we see our past as a struggle, as God not being there for us, God not helping us, we might end up seeing our future that way.
And that’s how Israel saw God in their past. Samuel needed to correct that. God had been with them through the generations, and He is still with them. In the same way, He has been with us all the way, and He is still with us today, calling us forward, by calling us to get past ourselves, our hang ups, our attitudes.
Stop dwelling on the past, and look forward to where he is calling us!
Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
- Is 43:18-19
See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
- Is 65:17
New wine can’t go in old wineskins, so the only way we can contain His new blessings and breakthroughs in the new season He’s called us into is to renew our minds.
As we set our minds forward. Let Him lead. Ask Him to show you where He’s leading you. Ask Him for a new perspective, to renew our minds.
As we set our feet forward with Him, the steps might seem small. But don’t despise the day of small beginnings. As Israel was attacked right at that point, the enemy wants to rob us of our new beginnings. The stone, our line in the sand, recognizes God’s faithfulness. Faith recognizes that God brought us through, and that He is with us right now. Remember how faithful God has been to us, and know that he is with us today, and is with us when He calls us forward.
