Should I Build An Altar?

Hebrews 13:10 - We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.

It’s hard to read through the Old Testament without reading about someone building an altar. I mean, the word “altar” is used 429 times in the Bible, for goodness sake! Noah built the first altar after the flood, which pleased the Lord and He promised there would never be a flood to wipe out creation again. Abraham built one to God after he passed through the land and the Lord promised to give the land to his descendents. In the New Testament, there is the ultimate altars built – the altar of the burnt offering and the altar of incense.

Every time I read about an altar in the Bible, I think to myself “I would never need to build an altar nowadays because no one makes physical sacrifices anymore. That’s some old time Bible tradition.”

When people in Biblical times built an altar, it was built as an act of worship, sacrifice, and renewal, and a marker of a big event or a revelation during their journey with the Lord. Although in modern days we don’t physically build an altar or make a physical sacrifice, these three steps (worship, sacrifice, and renewal) are still required in our relationship with the Lord and building an altar to Him.

People in Biblical times also built altars almost as a remembrance for any and all occasions – times of joy and sorrow, victory and defeat, repentance and celebration. We should do the same. We should mark every occasion that God brings to us by building an altar to God and worship Him, sacrifice our sins, and begin renewal to Him as we lay everything down on it. It is the act of stopping and giving the Lord all we have.

Now I am in no way saying we should stop in the middle of a workday or pull over on the side of the highway to find some rocks and build a physical altar to the Lord every time we feel called to worship Him, or sacrifice something of our flesh to Him, or be renewed in our mindset. Instead, we should stop to praise and adore God for who He is and what He has done. We should recognize that God is the only true God among widespread idolatry. We should stop to make a place among chaos to communicate with God and check our own actions. We should thank God for his almighty plan and promises through trials and tribulations.

Building an altar to the Lord has taken on a new form since Biblical times, but it still is a necessary part of recognizing who God is and solidifying our overwhelming need for Him to run our lives.

Are You Faithful?

Ever been in a situation where you feel like saying "God, where are you? Where is my blessing? Where is the good thing that you promised? What have I done wrong? Where did I miss up? What did I do to make you mad or upset?"

Well here's the thing... God's timing is never off. In fact it's always perfect. We're the ones who are off. We are the ones who need our timing to be readjusted. When we think that something is supposed to happen at a specific time or in a specific place, we often are going off of what we know from the world around us. But what we aren't thinking about is that timing isn't controlled by the world around us, and instead it is controlled by the grace of God. That grace of God is perfect and complete, lacking nothing. It lacks no good thing. 

So when we are faced with a trial or tribulation, we must look higher to the one who creates the earth and holds it in his hands. First of all, what a powerful image. Just picture God holding the world in his hand. I can hold a tennis ball in my hand. Not the earth where 7 billion people live. That's crazy. 

Secondly, James 1:2-4 says "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." 

Facing troubles isn't about becoming bitter or thinking the world or God is out to get you. It's an call to be glad that you are given the opportunity to become more in tune with God. If you place your eyes on God through the trial, He will refine you from a rock into a diamond. Come on, who doesn't want to be like a beautiful diamond?

But seriously, trust God. Trust that He will come through for you. Trust that He wants good things for you life. Trust that he will never fail you, even if what is happening isn't what or how you planned. Trust that no good thing will be withheld. Trust that God can and God will.

Are you willing to be faithful? Are you willing to stick with God through the trials and through the attacks? Are you willing to trust that even though you can't see it, that it doesn't mean there isn't good in the situation? Are you not only willing, but ready to do all of this? 

If you are, and even if you're not, pray through it. I love that phrase because it doesn't just mean "pray about it one and done and hope for the best". It means "pray over and over and over again until you see either a change in your situation or a change in your attitude and your heart".