The Ezers of Our Lives

Week 3 Lenten practice
by Bobby Harrison

SCRIPTURE
Psalm 121:1-2  
 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.


REFLECTION
The psalmist opens up by casting our vision toward the hills. As if help would miraculously crest those peaks and descend into our valleys. At least, that was the writer’s hope. And hope here was certainly filled with uncertainty. For even the psalmist ends this plea with a question mark. The next sentence, though, is punctuated by something else altogether different. Or rather, Someone different. One thing this writer is sure of, is that the Lord, the living Creator of all that was, is, and is to come, will be the help this desperate one needs.

To even write these two verses is to confess great need. We don’t look for help unless we find ourselves in trouble. And so step one, in times like these, is to acknowledge our desire for someone outside of us to come and save us. To lament and cry. And hope to be heard. Perhaps you find yourself there these days. Gazing toward the mountains. Asking questions. Hoping and wondering and aching to believe. For help to come your way. Perhaps here and now, we can take a moment to expand our understanding of what that “help” might look like. And even more, who that help has looked like in your life.

The word “help” here in the original language stems from two compound words in Hebrew: “ezer kenegdo”. It is used 17 times in the Old Testament to describe God as a “strong rescue, a strong power”. But we first see it in the Scriptures attributed not to God, but to woman as she is created in Genesis 2. There is no hint of subordination or hierarchy in the creation account: only our Creator wrapping the fullness of God’s glory around the created. And woman is to stand among all of creation as one not only in equity alongside man, but even more, as one who represents the strength and power of God unto the earth. It is God who names woman “ezer”. And as my pastor, Inés, reminds me, “Who names who and for what purpose is important. Here in Genesis, God the supreme “Ezer” names woman.”

I lift my eyes to the mountains. Where does my “ezer” come from?

Since the day I was created, I have known the strength of “ezer” first and foremost through the strength of my mom, Debbie. She has revealed to me, since my first breath, the might of our Maker. The unstoppable power of her resilience. The sacrificial extravagance of her generosity. The tender beauty of her goodness. Surely she has been the “ezer” of God all the days of my life. I’ve never had to look to the mountains. Because I’ve always had my mom. And in having an “ezer” like this, I’ve also never had to doubt the “ezer” of God. Because if God could be half as faithful as the “ezer” that gave birth to me, I knew this was a God I could trust and love in return with every breath I had. My help has come from you, Lord. It’s always been from you. And so many times, you’ve been by my side through the presence of my mom.



PRACTICE
As we honor and celebrate Women’s History Month, we do so by acknowledging the women in our lives who have revealed the “ezer” of God to us. We invite you here to reflect and consider who those “ezer’s” have been, and who they continue to be. And then we encourage you to reflect that back to them. To celebrate the impact they have made in your life.

Perhaps it’s a social media post highlighting the women in your story who shaped you into you who now are. Perhaps it’s a phone call or handwritten letter to a mother or sister or teacher or coach or mentor or pastor. Perhaps it’s a piece of art that captures some snapshot of the essence of their beauty and goodness. But as a way to honor God, may you take time to honor God’s strength and power expressed to you through the faithfulness of women in your life.

PRAYER
Ezer God, we thank you for the multitude of ways you’ve come to our aid in times of need. In our lament, you heard our cry, even as we looked to the mountains. But you shifted our sight to you, and you showed up and came by our side. And so often, Lord, you showed up through the embrace of resilient, generous, good women. Women who revealed your likeness to us. May we honor them this week. And in so doing, may we honor you.