The Sanctuary is YOU!

Written by Lori Melton - May 28, 2020

“And I will dwell/abide in the House of the Lord forever.”  Ps 23:6b

Who is this God of ours, who is like no other?

When we recount the Quarantine of 2020 we will all have different stories to tell.  Similar to when Kennedy was shot or when the Twin Towers collapsed in 2001.  The morning of September 11, 2001 I was standing in our guest bedroom. The sun was shining gloriously outside. My husband was working from home that day & ran up to where I was and turned on the TV just having heard what was happening. Fear took my breath away, tightening in my gut as we stood there watching the second plane hit the tower.  

Those moments, like these, are being forever etched in our minds.

During this Quarantine we all are living in the same time and yet each of our lives looks slightly different.  Some are out of work.  Some working from home.  All of us not able to gather.  Some have loved ones or friends suffering from the virus, others with no one in their immediate circle only seeing the reports from afar. 

Some grandparents not able to squeeze their grandkids.  For us, our grown children, with all of their outside commitments, social contacts & favorite gathering spots stripped away, have been returning home for the weekends for what we have affectionately come to call “Corona Camp”. Though still experiencing the anxiety of these times, we feel like we have enjoyed an extended family vacation as we spend time outdoors, playing games, and eating all of our family favorite meals.

Living at the Sanctuary at Bear Creek we are used to hosting guests who come to spend time alone with God.  We prepare the outdoor spaces, the cabin and retreat room for their coming.  During the quarantine it has not been retreaters that we welcome but our boisterous family with open arms instead! 

“Ministering” these days by by washing linens, extra vacuuming after the weekends are passed, wiping down walls of soiled fingerprints and cooking; my husband’s head spinning from countless trips to the grocery store for one exquisite meal after another!

On a phone call with a friend a few weeks ago we were discussing our quarantine realities.  As I shared about how different it felt to be living at the Sanctuary created for other people to come but recently having our own family tromping thru the woods, enjoying the glistening waters, spring wildflowers and reflective walks, her response held me fast, 

“I don’t know if you can see it.  The Sanctuary is not just the physical place where you live.  It is what you have become.”  

All that Jesus provided flashed before my eyes.  I remembered his words to his disciples the night before he died.  He was going to be taken away from them.  They were heartbroken. Then he said something completely ridiculous.  “It is good for you that I am going away. Because if I go the Holy Spirit will come and live in you.” 

The reason the Father sent Jesus was about to realized!

Ever since sin separated Adam and Eve from pure relationship with God, the Father had been formulating a plan.  Jesus made a way for God himself to live in Us!

In the times of the Old Testament, when David wrote the glorious words, “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” God’s people would have to go to the Temple. The Temple was the place God’s Spirit dwelt.  In the Temple was where you could feel, hear and see God. But only a very few were allowed in.  And for only very limited amounts of time. The rest could only hope to stand outside and wait to see if a message might be delivered to them.

This is no more!  Today we don’t have to wait outside or wait our turn to be in His presence.   He doesn’t live in a temple anymore!  He has made us his dwelling place!

We each have become a Sanctuary, a sacred place where God dwells.  We don’t only experience His presence at times when we go to His Temple. We live in His presence.  We are His Temple where people can come to hear, feel and see God; where thirsty souls can receive living water as He flows out from us!

When I read “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” I dance, and shout and sing… because I don’t have to go anymore to his house. I am His house!  God has made His home in me!  (Eph 3:17)

and in YOU! 

Standing in wonder, unable to comprehend, my heart overflows, “How can this be? I am not worthy.” 

That is how great HE IS.

Pause, coming to God in prayer.. ask Him, “To Whom have you called me to be a Sanctuary today?”

                                                                                      ~ Lori