10/31/2025
Imagine this: hands dropping heavy stones onto an altar. Each rock represents something we carry — shame, fear, regret, trauma, disappointment, addiction, pride, pain. We walk through life with these weights, some we picked up ourselves, others were thrown at us by life, by people, by our past. And we keep carrying them, hoping we’ll find peace, hoping the world will offer something to make it all feel lighter.
But the truth is, the world only adds more weight. It tells us to chase money, success, relationships, and status — as if those things can heal what’s broken inside. But they can’t. They just distract us for a little while, until the ache returns.
The altar is not a place of shame — it’s a place of exchange. It’s where you come, hands full of burdens, and lay them down. It’s where God meets you, not with judgment, but with open arms. He says, ‘Give me your rocks — your past, your pain, your striving — and I’ll give you rest. I’ll give you peace. I’ll give you a new identity.’
Yes, there will be a crushing. There will be an emptying. God will gently remove the things you’ve leaned on that were never meant to hold you. He’ll strip away the lies — that you’re not enough, that you have to earn love, that your worth is in what you do or what you have. But it’s not to destroy you — it’s to rebuild you.
To the one chasing money thinking it will bring happiness — it won’t. You’ll keep running, keep spending, keep searching, and still feel empty. To the one who’s been through trauma and believes they’re only worth what others have told them — you are worth far more. You are not your past. You are not your pain. You are not what happened to you.
The altar is where you stop pretending and start healing. It’s where you drop the rocks you’ve carried for too long and receive what only God can give: wholeness, identity, purpose, love that doesn’t leave.
You don’t have to carry it anymore. You don’t have to fix yourself before you come. Just come — with your hands full of broken pieces — and let Him do the exchange.
What He gives in return will change everything.