Set the Sail (Preparing for a Move of God) Sample

Building The Altar: Preparation

St. Augustine, the North African Bishop of Hippo in the 4th century once wrote this: “Without God, we can’t; without us, He won’t.” What did he mean?

He meant to explain the theological mystery that we often wrestle with today: the paradox of God’s sovereignty and our human responsibility. This is another way of asking, “Is God in control or do my choices really matter?” If God is in control, do my actions and choices really matter?

For Augustine, and for the Scriptures, God’s ultimate control and our responsibility are not at odds; in fact, God’s control is what enables our choices, which are real. This means that even as God is the ultimate architect of salvation, he calls us to partner with him for the renewal of all things. This is another way of saying that he calls us to build the altar. In our story, God can choose to come down and vindicate Elijah without an altar, but he wants to include Elijah in his show of power and so he instructs the prophet to construct an altar.

Altars are places where heaven bleeds onto earth; they are places where God comes down in power. Altars do not force God to come down, but they are God’s ordained way of partnering with us to have his heavenly presence and power felt.

Our homes, our churches, our workplaces, our relationships, and our lives are altars upon which God desires to visit with his grace and power… And he is calling each and every one of us to build the altars of our lives in order to see Him visit us again in power. Where in your life do you feel particularly burdened to prepare a place for the Spirit of God to come down in power?