Tuesday With Teri

 I once posted weekly, Tuesdays, hence the blog name Tuesdaywithteri.  Over the years my ramblings have lessened and posts are infrequent, but I treasure this time of sharing during the season of advent.  For me, Advent is a time to pump the brakes of life.  I love anticipation. I am a gleeful participant in all the things that bring us closer to Christmas day…baking, gifting, decorating, gathering, singing, serving…but my favorite thing will always be the quiet morning, still night, or mid-day pause when thoughts and hearts turn intentionally toward the reason for the celebration. In some homes, a candle will be lit for each of the advent themes.  This week let us consider HOPE.

I do not normally struggle with sleep.  Sleeping is my superpower.  I am usually quick to fall asleep and tend to sleep deeply. But lately my mind has been nosediving into all manner of unsettling worries and thoughts.   I tried ALL the things…. counting sheep, prayer (or as my sister calls it “talking to the Shepherd”), making mental lists, reading…nothing seemed to hasten dreamland’s arrival.  And to make matters worse, for some ODD reason I had a song on loop in my brain. Odder still…that song was a hymn I have had no reason to hear or sing in ages… “Come Thou Fount”?!  Seriously, not even a Christmas hymn…yet there I was, every night, hearing this tune on repeat:

Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I’m come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.  

O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above

As I attempted to banish this song from my mind and grasp sleep, I found my thoughts pinned on one thing: Ebenezer (what is Scrooge’s name doing in the song?)

After several sleepless nights, and a copious amount of coffee, I dug into the hymn’s origin…what is this “Ebenezer”?  The hymn’s author, Robert Robinson (1735-1790), penned these verses after becoming a believer at the age of 22.  Turns out, the Ebenezer Robinson referenced is found in 1Samuel 7:12-13.  It is here Samuel places the “stone of help” as a memorial following God’s provision for His people.  Hebrew: eben=stone ezer=help   Samuel wanted the people to remember, not just for a few years, but for generations to come, how God had come to their rescue.  It was not to commemorate a final victory. Their story was far from over.  Trials, tribulation and wandering would continue, they were indeed, “prone to wander”.   But Ebenezer was meant to remind a nation to keep the faith and remember their deliverer.

This song no longer fills my sleepless nights, but now I find myself humming it and dwelling on it intentionally.  My story is also far from over.  I know too deeply what “prone to wander” means.  God has shown His faithfulness in my life in countless ways, but most importantly in my salvation.  When my sin separated me from Him, God sent His own Son, that baby in a manger, the hope of salvation. He is my stone of help. This is the mount I am fixed upon.  

“Come Thou Fount” is now my new favorite Christmas Hymn. There is no sweeter time than Christmas to be reminded of how great a gift God gave us, the ultimate provision for us, and the Hope we can confidently hold as we remember ALL our God has done, is doing and will do!