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“It was so lucky that your clutch burned out so close to Anchorage,” my friend said.

After driving over 2,700 miles, my clutch failed at one of the few turnouts on the highway, a viewpoint where I could pause and watch the Dall sheep as they traversed the steep cliffs of the mountains.

While my son and I awaited the tow-truck that would take us into the city, we smiled at the sure-footed, white creatures on the cliffsides. As I recall today that incident that happened thirty years ago, I wonder if I was lucky? Like those sheep, I was in a precarious position—stranded with a car towing a small U-Haul with all we owned and far from our destination.

Although I could not leap to the next footing like the sheep, I was in God’s hands. No, it was not luck that had placed me there. I was seventeen miles from the only Subaru repair shop in Alaska and by the only emergency phone. (No cell phones back then.) And I gazed at sheep whose design and homeland gave them protection—just as my good Shepherd had done for me.

Over three thousand years ago, the Lord gave the design for the incense in His tabernacle (Exodus 30:6, 8). In the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, the ark of the covenant rested with the mercy seat above it. There, God placed His presence, so holy that anyone who entered the veil without His invitation and a blood sacrifice died.

However, on the other side of the curtain stood the altar of incense. The incense was to be used only for God. It represented the people’s prayers. That speaks to my spirit. Do we realize how close our prayers are to God? And do we recognize His hand at work for us? Further, do we keep our words of appreciation for Him only? How often do we hear people declare, “You were so lucky.”

Use your words to give God the glory He merits as His rightful incense at the altar of prayer.