Sacred Spaces
Where is your God place? I mean those moments when you block out the world, the noise, the chaos and quietly bow your head, offering a moment for a spiritual breath. Is it the comfy chair sitting under the light in the living room, or for you it may be a walk on the beach, while brushing your toes in the sand. Or do you wait until bible in hand and you slip into the pew at church. For me, it is a spot on the back porch as I sip coffee.
When God moves and speaks, showing Himself BIG, what is our response? Do we mark those moments on the time line of our life? Or do we just give a quick nod of the head and continue on with our day – our life. I have been studying those great names of old … Abe, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, I found all had many things in common, but one in particular stood out to me … they built altars.
“He (Abe) built an altar there to the Lord…” (Genesis 12:7) “Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord.” (Genesis 26:25) “Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him…” (Genesis 35:14)
This one is one of my favorites; Moses sits on top of a hill, below him the battle 
wages on. Joshua leads the Israelites against the Amalekites, they were winning as long as Moses kept his hands raised and when he grew tired, Aaron and Hur placed a stone under him to sit and then stood beside him, holding his arms up. They win the battle, “Moses built an altar and called it ‘The Lord is my Banner.’ He said, “For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord.” (Exodus 17:15,16a) It doesn’t say it in the narrative, but I can imagine Moses taking rocks and placing them on top of the large stone he sat on during the battle, marking the fight and the victory.
An altar is a landmark of God’s presence. It declares a sacred space, sacred because the faithful God of the universe was there. Oh, we may no longer need to gather various rocks and pile them in our back yard, but we can make a spiritual marker. I made a very clear altar of the heart a few years ago. If I could literally see the altar it would be down in a cattle field, at the river’s edge, under a large old tree. It was there I cried out to the Lord, wanting … NEEDING His presence – He never disappoints.
Like the Patriarchs of old, may we too be altar builders. Marking places, seasons where battles were fought, where battles were WON! Recognizing and declaring THIS is where God met with me. Here is where I will remember. I will remember … HIM. If we could see as God sees, I am confident we would see sacred spaces scattered across our past journeys.
Sacred spaces.
In Him, DeDe (“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love & good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24)
Inspired Fountain 