A Prayer to Stand Firm When Everything Feels Unstable - Your Daily Prayer - March 16
A Prayer to Stand Firm When Everything Feels Unstable
By: Rachel Wojo
Bible Reading:
"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, 'Thus far the LORD has helped us.'" - 1 Samuel 7:12
Listen or Read Below:
The house was finally quiet. My daughter, Taylor, age 4 at the time, had fallen asleep after a long day, and my husband, Matt, had just left for his night shift at the hospital. I was sitting on the couch with Taylor’s medical reports spread out next to me. I’d scanned them when they arrived.
This was my moment, and I started reading. Really reading.
Her doctor had listed 15 diagnoses she wanted to rule out. I remember thinking, "Okay, we're ruling it out. That's good." But then I started comparing the potential diagnosis against the symptom list we'd been living with. And one by one, everything lined up.
I sat there with those papers in my lap, and the reality I'd been pushing away crashed into me. This wasn't going to get better. This wasn't something we could fix with the right treatment or “enough prayer.” The future I'd been imagining for her wasn't going to happen. Her diagnosis was terminal.
I remember feeling so shaky. Literally like the ground was moving.
I remember trying to think ahead. What would next year look like? Five years from now? How do you plan for something like this? How do you even get up in the morning and function when you know what's coming? My mind kept going to places I couldn't let it go, and I'd pull it back, and then it would go there again anyway.
I don't know how long I sat there. Maybe twenty minutes. Maybe an hour. While that moment was almost 25 years ago, I can recall all the details like it was yesterday.
Recently, I was reading my Bible and read about Samuel setting up a memorial stone after the Israelites' victory. Samuel called it an Ebenezer stone. Samuel said, "Thus far the LORD has helped us."
I thought about that phrase: thus far.
Because when the moment of reality dropped in my heart, and I looked ahead at Taylor’s terminal illness, all I could see was terrifying. But when I look back now? I can see God's faithfulness throughout my life so clearly. My mom's death that nearly broke me, yet God was faithful. The financial burdens our family endured through medical bills and high-need care felt impossible, but God had provided. The grief that felt like it would never lift didn’t leave, but God’s strength carried me, and I grew stronger.
And here I am. Still breathing. Still standing. Not because any of those situations had been stable, secure, or fixable. But because God had held me through them.
Friend, He is Our Anchor. When the future feels unbearable, what if we started looking backward to remind ourselves: thus far, the LORD has helped me. Through everything we didn't think we could live through, He was there and still is.
I don’t know where you are right now, and I can't tell you the future is going to be stable. I can't promise the ground won't keep shifting under your feet. Jesus told us that in this world, we would have trouble, but He also told us to take heart because He has overcome the world.
Friend, when you can't look forward, look back. Look at where God has already been faithful. Every hard season you survived. Every unbearable loss, He carried you through. Every moment that the ground gave way, He held you up anyway.
Set up your own Ebenezer. Remind yourself: thus far, the LORD has helped me.
And the God who's been faithful thus far? He's not going anywhere.
Let's Pray:
God,
I can't look ahead right now. It's too much. When I try to think about tomorrow or next month or next year, I can't breathe.
So I'm pausing right now to look back instead. At every hard thing I didn't think I'd survive, yet You were there. Through every loss that felt unbearable, You have held me. Every moment the ground gave way, I’m so thankful that You held me up. Thus far, LORD, You have helped me.
Help me remember that when the fear tries to pull me under. Remind me of Your faithfulness when I can't see it in what's ahead. Be my firm foundation when everything else is shifting. You're the same yesterday, today, and forever. You don't change when my circumstances do.
I'm setting up my Ebenezer today. Remembering: thus far, You've helped me. And I'm choosing to trust You'll keep being faithful, even when I can't see how.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
If you enjoyed this prayer, you’ll appreciate the beautiful prayer card set, 31 Days of Prayers for the Heart. Enjoy and display Rachel Wojo's beautiful 31-day prayer card collection that includes A Morning Prayer, A Prayer for the Moment, and more! Easily place your favorite on display or transition through the set using one each day for a month. All cards securely rest in the display stand. This set includes 5x7 cards on sturdy 100 lb cardstock, a beautiful, smooth, professional print, and a handcrafted wooden display stand to hold all cards.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Maya Karkalicheva
Related Resource: What If God’s Heart Toward You Is Kinder Than You Think?
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