Walking On Holy Ground…

Where/What is Holy Ground?

For sure it is anywhere God is!

Exodus 3:5-6 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 

Or is it the place where God resides?

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Or is it the places where God takes action in our lives?

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” 

In preparing for this blog I wondered/wandered through the many people’s lives and places where I personally may have “walked on Holy ground”. Rarely has it been in a building… in fact without the presence of the Holy Spirit, I have felt the least need to remove my sandals in church buildings.

Most of the time I have been made aware (like Moses) that Holy Ground is in those lives and places that God is working a major EVENT!

Genesis 32:24-32 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip. 

When we wrestle with God… and He blesses us with His touch… this place is Holy Ground! For both encourager and the encouraged, wherever you look and find God is indeed Holy Ground. My advice… BUILD AN ALTAR!!

Because Holy Ground will not always (maybe never) look pretty or cathedral-like, we do need to LOOK and then, so as not to forget or mistake it for hell on earth, we need to BUILD an altar so that when we walk there, we can walk with reverence and respect and remembrance of what God is accomplishing in our life.

REVERENCE… both the encourager and the encouraged need to know beyond a shadow of doubt that… it is God who is at work (Philippians 2:13) and that…

Hebrews 11: 6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.  Reverence is the sincerity with which we approach our God. If we trust Him, will allow Him access to our lives? If we love Him will we obey Him even as we wrestle with the details?

RESPECT… both the encourager and the encouraged need to know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:14)… NOT by our own or any human plans/opinions.

REMEMBRANCE… both the encourager and the encouraged need to remember IT IS A CHOICE… OUR choice to serve God… “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15) and why! Even when it hurts!

Then… we must pray… for ourselves and our fellow travelers… that the Holy Spirit will work His way in us even as we wrestle against Him for our own way! Just yesterday, I was grumpily declaring what a “terrible, really bad, horrible day” I was having. Me… who likes to remind everyone that struggles are opportunities for altars… mmmmmm… hypocrite I am! But God… (like Isaiah’s voice behind you) spoke to me… and the voice said, “REALLY? Is this your testimony?

OOPS!!!! In the midst of my drama, which by the way felt very “good”, I had to tell my audience (captive audience – checkout clerk and customer behind me) the truth… not a terrible day in need of a change of venue, but an attitude change (much like a dirty diaper) that was within my own ability to master.

After the fact, though I was humbled and embarrassed to admit this to my accountability squad (my sisters in Christ), I realized that my day was Holy Ground and God was training me up to walk it.

OBVIOUSLY I needed the lesson… and probably will again! Walk On…

**All Scripture quoted comes from the “Bible Gateway” app and is the NASB  version of the Bible