Hello, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. As we come to the end of 2025, I want to take a different approach today. Instead of looking at a specific missionary story or a particular nation, I want us to look back together at this year—at how God has led us, provided for us, sustained us through everything we've faced.
There's a beautiful phrase in 1 Samuel 7:12 that captures what I want us to reflect on today: "Thus far the Lord has helped us." The prophet Samuel set up a stone monument and called it Ebenezer—which means "stone of help"—to commemorate how God had delivered Israel from their enemies. And he declared: "Thus far the Lord has helped us."
As I think about this phrase and about 2025, I'm reminded of some powerful reflections from Charles Spurgeon and L.B. Cowman that help us understand what "thus far" really means. Let me share them with you today.
[Looking backward - the avenue of God's faithfulness]
Spurgeon wrote that the words "thus far" are like a hand pointing backward toward the past. Whether you've walked with God for twenty years or seventy, you can say: "Thus far the Lord has helped us!" Through poverty and through wealth, through sickness and through health, at home and abroad, in honor and in dishonor, in difficulties and in joy, in trial and in triumph—"thus far the Lord has helped us!"
Think about your own year. Think about 2025. What did you face? For our family, this year has been filled with transitions and preparations. Jeff and I have been developing content for Homeschool to Launch, helping families prepare their teens for life after graduation. I’ve been creating podcast episodes for Nations 4 Jesus, learning about persecuted Christians around the world and growing in our passion for missions. Our youngest daughter has been preparing to go to South Korea for YWAM training in March. Our second oldest daughter moved home after two years in Colorado. Each member of our family had their joys and some sorrows. Through all of it—the busy seasons and the quiet ones, the challenges and the victories—thus far the Lord has helped us.
[The avenue of trees - counting mercies]
Spurgeon gives us this beautiful image: "We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from one end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves." He invites us to look down the long avenue of our years, seeing the green boughs of mercy overhead and the strong pillars of God's lovingkindness and faithfulness that have supported our joys.
Take a moment right now and do that. Look back over 2025 as if you're looking down an avenue of trees. What are the "green boughs of mercy" you see overhead? What provisions did God make that you didn't even realize you needed? What prayers did He answer? What dangers did He protect you from? What strength did He give when you thought you couldn't go on?
Spurgeon asks: "Are there any birds in the branches singing?" And he answers: "Surely, there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received 'thus far.'" What songs of mercy can you hear as you look back? Maybe it's healing received, provision given, relationships restored, faith strengthened, clarity provided, peace experienced.
[This year's specific mercies - our Nations 4 Jesus journey]
For me, as I look back on this year through the podcast episodes we've created, I see God's faithfulness in specific ways. We've studied the persecuted church—believers in Nigeria facing violence, North Korean Christians in labor camps, the hidden church in Afghanistan. And through learning about their suffering, God has deepened our own faith and expanded our vision for His global purposes.
We've learned about the Great Awakenings and how God has moved powerfully throughout American history. We've seen the campus revivals happening right now in 2025, with thousands of college students encountering Jesus. We've explored women in missions—from Mary Slessor to Amy Carmichael to modern-day female missionaries. We've learned about Squanto's story and how God used his suffering to save the Pilgrims. We've studied Saint Lucia and Swedish Christianity. Each episode, each story, each testimony has been a "green bough of mercy"—God teaching us, challenging us, growing us.
[Looking forward - the journey continues]
But Spurgeon reminds us that "thus far" doesn't just point backward—it also points forward. "For when a man gets up to a certain point, and writes 'thus far,' he is not yet at the end; there are still distances to be travelled."
As we stand at the end of 2025 looking toward 2026, we're not at the finish line yet. There are more trials ahead, and more joys. More temptations, and more triumphs. More prayers, and more answers. More toils, and more strength. More fights, and more victories. And eventually, for each of us, sickness, old age, and death will come.
But even that's not the end! Spurgeon continues: "Is it over now? No! there is more yet—awakening in Jesus' likeness, thrones, harps, songs, seeing the face of Jesus, the fellowship of other believers, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinite joy."
[The Lord who helped us will continue - the promise]
So as we look toward the unknown future of 2026, we can "be strong and take heart" as Psalm 27:14 encourages us, lifting our voices in praise and thanksgiving. Because as Spurgeon beautifully puts it: "The Lord who thus far has helped you, will help you all your journey through."
That's the promise we stand on! The same God who helped us through 2025 will help us through 2026. The same God who provided, protected, guided, and strengthened us this year will do the same next year. His character doesn't change. His faithfulness doesn't waver. His love doesn't diminish.
[The Alpine shepherds - encouraging one another]
L.B. Cowman shares a beautiful custom of Alpine shepherds that illustrates how we should end this year. These shepherds have a tradition of ending each day by singing to one another an evening farewell. As dusk falls and they gather their flocks to lead them down the mountain paths, they sing: "Thus far the Lord has helped us. Let us praise His name!"
The crystalline mountain air carries their song long distances. And then, with sweet courtesy, they sing to one another a friendly farewell: "Goodnight! Goodnight!" The words are taken up by the echoes, bouncing from mountainside to mountainside, reverberating sweetly and softly until the music dies away in the distance.
[Calling to one another through darkness]
Cowman writes: "So let us call out to one another through the darkness, till the gloom becomes vocal with many voices, encouraging God's weary travelers."
That's what I want to do today. To all of you listening—whether 2025 was a year of triumph or trial, joy or sorrow, growth or struggle—I want to call out: "Thus far the Lord has helped us! Let us praise His name!"
Maybe 2025 was the hardest year of your life. Maybe you lost someone you loved. Maybe you faced health challenges, financial difficulties, relationship breakdowns. Maybe your faith was tested in ways it never had been before. If that's you, hear me calling to you across whatever darkness you're in: "Thus far the Lord has helped you! He will help you all your journey through!"
Or maybe 2025 was a year of blessing and breakthrough. Maybe you saw prayers answered, dreams fulfilled, relationships restored. If that's you, join me in calling out to others who are still in the darkness: "Thus far the Lord has helped us! Let us praise His name!"
[The gathering echoes - a storm of hallelujahs]
Cowman continues: "Let the echoes gather till a very storm of Hallelujahs breaks in thundering waves around the sapphire throne." Can you imagine it? Believers all over the world, in every nation, every tongue, every tribe—all declaring together: "Thus far the Lord has helped us!"
The persecuted Christians in North Korea, singing quietly in their hearts where no one can hear. The Nigerian believers who lost loved ones to Boko Haram, still praising God. The Afghan Christians practicing faith in absolute secrecy, declaring in whispered prayers: "Thus far You have helped us!" The campus revival students in America, lifting their voices: "Thus far You have helped us!" The Korean missionaries serving in Central Asia, the Brazilian missionaries in North Africa, the Nigerian missionaries across West Africa—all joining the chorus: "Thus far the Lord has helped us!"
And that chorus—those echoes gathering from every corner of the earth—becomes a storm of hallelujahs that breaks in thundering waves around God's throne.
[The morning breaks - our ultimate hope]
And here's where this reflection ultimately leads us. Cowman writes: "And then as the morning breaks we shall find ourselves at the shore of the sea of glass, crying, with the redeemed host, 'Blessing and honor and glory be unto Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!'"
She's pointing us to Revelation 4:6 and 5:13—to that moment when our journey through this world is complete, when the morning of eternity breaks, when we stand before God's throne with the redeemed from every nation. And then our song of "thus far the Lord has helped us" will become an eternal song: "Blessing and honor and glory be unto Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!"
Revelation 19:3 tells us: "And again they shouted: 'Hallelujah!'" That will be our eternal refrain—praising God not just for helping us "thus far," but for bringing us all the way home.
[Personal application - three ways to respond]
So how should we respond as we stand at the end of 2025? Let me suggest three things. First, set up your own "Ebenezer"—your own stone of remembrance. Write down the specific ways God helped you in 2025. Don't let them be forgotten! Create a record you can look back on when 2026 gets hard and you need to remember: "Thus far the Lord has helped me."
Second, encourage someone else who's still in darkness. Be like those Alpine shepherds calling out through the crystalline mountain air: "Thus far the Lord has helped us! Let us praise His name!" Who in your life needs to hear that right now? Who's discouraged, struggling, wondering if God has abandoned them? Call out to them! Share your testimony of God's faithfulness. Sing your "Goodnight!" of encouragement until the echoes carry hope to weary travelers.
Third, face 2026 with confident faith. You don't know what next year holds. None of us do. You may be facing job changes, health challenges, relationship difficulties, or opportunities you can't yet see. But here's what we do know: "The Lord who thus far has helped you, will help you all your journey through."
[The ultimate "thus far" - salvation in Christ]
But I need to say something crucial: All of this—every reflection on God's faithfulness, every testimony of His help "thus far"—assumes that you are His child through faith in Jesus Christ. The greatest "thus far" isn't about the circumstances of life. It's about salvation.
If you've placed your faith in Jesus—if you've confessed your sins, trusted in His death and resurrection for your salvation, and committed your life to following Him—then you can say with absolute confidence: "Thus far the Lord has saved me, kept me, and is leading me to eternal life." That's the ultimate Ebenezer—the ultimate stone of help—because Jesus Himself is our helper, our Savior, our Lord.
But if you've never done that, if you're not sure you're God's child, then let me invite you to make 2026 the year when you can begin saying "thus far the Lord has helped me." Confess your sins to God. Believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins and rose from the dead. Ask Him to be your Lord and Savior. And then you can begin your own journey of testifying to God's faithfulness.
[Closing challenge and prayer]
As we close 2025 and prepare for 2026, I want to encourage you with one final thought from Cowman: "This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way." That's our testimony now, and that will be our testimony forever. Jesus led me all the way—through 2025, through 2026, through every year until I see His face. And then, standing before His throne, the song continues through endless ages: "Jesus led me all the way."
Let me pray:
Thank you for joining me in 2025 for these Nations 4 Jesus episodes. It's been a journey of learning and growing together. Please join my in the new year…there’s so much more God has to show us!
Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations, and declare with confidence: "Thus far the Lord has helped us, and He will help us all our journey through!"
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