Sanctuary

What is a sanctuary? Is it the pew lined auditorium of the church, with its cross in front and stained glass windows? Or is it the material comforts you provide for yourself each day?

I have wondered…. and have concluded… it is the state of God’s love in our heart.

It is that place we stand silently, quietly seeking Jesus face… longing for Him to show up.  That moment… when on our knees, on our feet or laying face down on the floor… that we know we are not alone. That overwhelming place… where Jesus whispers to the depths of my soul and it draws tears of joy and released burdens.

Sometimes it is a place we must go to still our hearts and open the doors wide to the love we have resisted.  Sometimes it is taking a moment to truly see the gold and pink dawn of a new day.  Sometimes it is the first breath we’ve taken, knowing the burdens of yesterday are no longer crushing us, nor are they ours to carry alone. And sometimes, sanctuary is…. God meeting us on the battlefield with a host of relentless angels.  These moments of sanctuary, feed our starving souls.

I have known the sanctuary of the rock of my salvation, as I sit in its cleft.  I have known the sanctuary, of the open green pastures as I lay in its soft blades, looking into my Shepherd’s face.   And I have know sanctuary, in the valleys deep shadows, where I feel I have lost all of me and true love.  Huddled in the shadows, too weary to walk, His wings become a canopy, a shelter, a sanctuary.

Sanctus Real sings a beautiful song.  Speaking to the heart seeking a quiet place to rest from battle and know God.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQvcw4AJg0k&feature=youtube_gdata