Paul McCartney wrote in his
brilliant Beatles song “In My Life”, “There
are places I remember all my life though some have changed… some have gone and
some remain.” We all have places in our lives that will forever remain
meaningful. They remind us of who we are, our journey and how far we have come
as they take us back to moments and memories that ultimately define who we are
and who we are to become in time. Those specific signposts along the way that,
when reencountered no matter how long it’s been, trigger all that once happened
as though time itself stood still.
In the times of the ancient Hebrews there
were specific places that held intense spiritual meaning to the individual who
encountered God there. Each place was marked by some sort of stone piling or carved
structure, even a water well, so as to remember the exact spot God met with them
that neither time nor weather could erase it from the earth so that not only they
themselves would remember, but their descendants that followed long after they
were gone. They would see the marker and be reminded that God not only exists, but
had a powerful interaction with a man at that specific spot in the earth. They are
called ALTARS.
For almost 30 years I have gone to a
place that was my “place of meeting” with God on the cliffs of Palos Verdes southwest
of Los Angeles. Though I had not been there in too many years for me to
remember, I recently went to LA on business and felt compelled to go up there seeking
an encounter with God and to be reminded of my life with Him, and all He has
spoken and done to me personally these many years.
As I drove up the winding road that
took me to that place, I felt the presence of God in a very tangible way in my
rental car. I was so overwhelmed with “the Presence” that I began to sob as I drove.
In my mind I saw pictures that reminded of all the things that had
happened to me in the area I was now driving in. I began to hear His voice in my head telling
me specific events as I drove as He urged me to repeat out loud everything He
said as I drove to a place of destiny… my altar. “This is the place I told you
you would live”, the Voice said. “Yes Abba, this is the place I heard You say I
would live so long ago” I responded. “This is where I revealed Myself to you…”
“Yes this is where I came to know You!” “This is where you were immersed into
Me.” “Yes… I was baptized right here Lord.” This went on for over twenty
minutes as I made my way up Palos Verdes Drive. In almost uncontrollable emotion, mile
after mile I was reminded of every detail of my experiences with Him over 14
years from 1979 until I moved in 1993.
When I arrived at the place where my
altar had been the years of erosion had taken its toll. What used to be
immediately recognizable to me no longer was. I had to walk and search as I
pulled on the past to find the place I had met with Him so many times. Suddenly
I saw the rocks that I knew so well. They were there, right in front of me and
my heart leapt within me. I was home! In that moment a flood of understanding filled
me and all that I had encountered in that place came rushing into my mind. This
was the place He told me He was going to raise me up into ministry. Here was
where He showed me I would go to Israel again and again (eight times now and
not one did I pay for). Here was where I knew Nashville was my next
destination. Here is where I called out, wept and pleaded with God more times
than I can count. Here was where I had my mountain top encounters with the
Living God, and it was here He would meet me again and speak as He had done so
long ago.
Though my sons have never been there
with me and I have kept is a sacred place to myself for all these years, it
represents the very same things to me that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had
experienced in their encounters with Yahweh. What Moses and Joshua knew… my
place of visitation was where the unexplainable and incomprehensible took place
between the Creator of all things who is holy met with me, the sinner. A
place where nothing is hidden and all is made known. A place marked in stone carved
on my soul created especially for me. My Jacob’s ladder, my 12 stones in the
Jordon, my altar on the mountain where God sees and is satisfied.
The biggest issue for anyone who is
a believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the same today as it was
for them thousands of years ago; we forget. There is a reason God had them
build altars and repeat the stories over and over again, passing them on to
each succeeding generation; to remind them, and ourselves, of the faithfulness
and lovingkindness of the One who has redeemed us by the sacrifice of His only
Son, Y’shua-Jesus. To never forget that He sees, knows and understands.
That He is not a man that He should lie nor the son of man that He should not
fulfill what He has promised. To understand that just as He spoke to them, He
speaks to us today. That He is God and He is Echad… One! Worthy of all praise
and honor and glory. And above all this… He guarantees that if we “draw near to Him, He will draw near to us… and
show us great and mighty things that we cannot even begin to comprehend.”
Where is your special place? Where was that one moment that you know that you know that you know God was there with
you? Whether it is on the earth or in the quietness of your heart, go there
today and remind yourself of His love and faithfulness in your life. Recover
your awe of Him. Remind your heart that He never leaves you nor forsakes you.
Then, as you do, reach out and hold fast to the Lover of your soul. He will
meet you there… He promises that He will.
© 2014 Steven Bliss
