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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Major Anne Read

Good morning,

On the days I wear my full Salvation Army navy serge uniform I also wear my red and gold long service badge. To be honest it’s partly because I want to ‘jazz up’ my otherwise plain uniform a bit but there is better reason.

Like most people my life has been something of a roller coaster – sometimes rushing along so fast, often exhilarating but now and then scary with its highs and lows and sometimes just wishing I could get off! But looking back I know that God has always been with me and helped me all the way.
The Old Testament tells how the Israelites were victorious over the Philistines and the prophet Samuel chose a stone - I guess it was an out-of- the-ordinary kind of stone - and laid it at the site of the battle. He called the stone Ebenezer or ‘Stone of Help’ and as he set the stone up Samuel declared ‘The Lord helped us all the way to this place’.

An old gospel song inspired by the story tells of ‘raising an ebenezer’ - of looking back and registering our thankfulness for God’s help.
Well I wear my Ebenezer! It’s my long service badge. Not many of us wear them, but this is my way of setting up a marker to say ‘The Lord helped me all the way to this place’.

Looking back to see God at work in our lives can be a really positive experience. Perhaps today you might like to lay down a marker. It may be by finding a special stone but it may be by writing a psalm or painting a picture or just saying a prayer.

Father God, we praise you for all that is past and trust you for all that’s to come.

Amen