So here we go...moving forward, following Him.
I awoke today in the dark hours of morning, barely coherent but aware enough that He was speaking. He told me I had set up "high places." He had brought this phrase to my attention for many months in my Bible reading. Many times throughout the Old Testament, you will find that people had set up "high places," which were illegal places of worshipping Yahweh (God). These were not places of idol worship ("bad") but rather places where people worshipped Yahweh ("good," right?). But they were UNAUTHORIZED places of worshipping Him (which equals "bad").
He woke me to the fact that I had high places, but before I could think about what those high places might be, I fell back to sleep.
When the sun was rising, I opened to my daily Bible-reading...first day of November. And, there waiting for me was the rest of His correction. In 2 Kings 14 again that phrase met me: "Yet the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places."
Lord, what are the high places in my life? Where am I sacrificing in unauthorized places? He brought to mind several things, and I jotted them down in my notebook. Five things spilled out onto paper, and I lifted up a prayer of repentance. The last one hit hardest: "Longing for 'important ministry' and minimizing the true ministry He has given me in my home." I read on, and later in that chapter a sentence stood up off the page in the way that only the Holy Spirit can do. Only He could take something written thousands of years ago about a man named Amaziah and speak directly to ME through it. (Can we even begin to grasp the awesome God we serve?!) There it met me in my spirit...a correction for King Amaziah, a correction for me... "Enjoy your glory and stay at home." For Amaziah, it was a correction to not advance his troops. For me, it was a correction to refocus on the ministry God has given me within the walls of my home.
And the timing was only possible through God...because today I had planned to launch this new blog. I spent time yesterday setting it up, and today I was going to roll out the first blog post; though, I was not sure what that post would be. It is a new blog to combine the efforts of my 2 separate blogs...AND to return my focus back to the ministry within my home. Before my fingers touched the keyboard, there was my God giving me the material to begin. It is, after all, HIS blog at the end of my fingers.
I begin with His correction to return home. No, I never left really. I've been a stay-home mama for 14 years. But the focus had grown dim. Now that I no longer have little babies in arms, I was feeling lighter and more portable and a bit zealous for His Kingdom work that lay over the bend...beyond where He had placed me. That was my "high place" I had set up to worship God, yet it was unauthorized. I was "sacrificing and burning incense" in an area He had not placed me.
Lord, I remove the high places from my life. Let me not wander from the true place of worship...hidden here under your pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night...to be completely content in the camp or on the go...to not long for more than you give me to do and yet to not run from any ministry You place in my path.
Sometimes we have to knock down before building up. Removing high places makes for a good beginning...the beginning of a new blog, the renewing of the passion He has given me to serve daily in this home, the place of service and worship where He has placed me.
Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.
