Tearing Down the High Places
By Chaunte Bluford
"He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places."
1 Kings 22:43
There have been times in my life when instead of seeking God in prayer when I was hurt, I sought to be consoled by a person or a cupcake. If I am being honest, even after I realized turning to people was not the answer, I still struggled with the cupcakes, cookies, and ice cream 😊. The more I developed my relationship with Christ, the less likely I looked to a person to feel better. Still, I thought there was no harm in grabbing a sugary treat. I did it so much that it became a habit if I was having a bad day. Even other people would buy me snacks for comfort. No big deal, right? Wrong. I was using the baked goods to fill a hole or heal a wound that only God could fill or heal. I have always thought of idols as carved images, people, or things we bow down to in worship. As I am maturing in my walk with Christ, I am learning anything can become an idol. I unknowingly exalted food and relationships above God.
I remember reading through the books of Kings and finding one recurring theme king after king. They did not tear down the high places. At first, I was perplexed. I thought the high places were a good thing, but after doing some research, I found the "high places" were built to worship foreign gods. I began to understand why the evil kings did not remove them but what baffled me about these kings was that the scriptures say, "they did what was right in the sight of the Lord." Why didn't these kings remove this huge obstacle from the people? It was clearly a snare. My gut tells me the kings wanted to be liked by the people. Maybe they did not want to push the envelope too far to the right. Or perhaps they saw them as monumental; after all, some were built by king Solomon, the son of David. He built the beautiful Temple to the Lord and was the wisest man that ever lived. Or maybe they thought it was not a big deal; they would tell them to stop, but no need to go to the extreme of destroying them. My final thought is maybe it was a backup plan…just in case God did not come through for them. Whatever the reasoning, the "high places" were altars to other gods, which violated one of the ten commandments. These places kept the children of Israel in constant conflict with God.
Most of us have a personal "high place." It's the person, place, or thing we go to instead of God to solve our problems or to make us feel better. It is the person, place, or thing that consumes our minds more than prayer or reading our Bible. We say we trust God, but do we run to Him first when faced with a difficult situation? We can think we are doing right in the sight of the Lord but neglect to tear down our "high places." Why not? My best guess is we lack total faith in God. It is easier to attach ourselves to something that will provide instant gratification than to wait on an answer from the Lord. It is easier to run to what we can touch, see, taste, hear or feel than be caught up in the unknown. Like the kings of the Old Testament, we try to serve two masters. We trust God with some of our issues, but the others, we feel we can handle them on our own. What is the solution? How do we get out of this cycle? First off, we have to acknowledge our idols.
Once we recognize the things we are putting before God, it is time to let them go. In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us, "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." This means the thing we place above God or are running to before we seek God needs to be cast down or destroyed because they are temporary. Food, relationships, money, etc., cannot solve all of our problems. They are bandages. Each can be a beneficial resource that God uses to help us in a time of need. Still, when we begin to love the provision more than the Provider, that is when we enter into sin. God wants us to rely on Him in every area of our lives. To do this, we must forget about Plan B. I am not saying tearing down our personal "high places" is an easy task, but once we acknowledge them, we can see clearer and take the opportunity to move by faith. In times of despair, when we have the urge to turn to someone or something other than God, we have a chance to use wisdom and seek the One who actually has the power to change our situation.
