2024: Sanctuary

Some time ago, a very dear friend and sister in the Lord got me started on picking word for the year at the new year. So with today being January 1st, I started thinking about what my word was going to be.

As I was thinking and praying about it, the number 73 passed through my mind. When it comes to scripture, there are a few books that have 73 or more verses in a chapter. Numbers 7, Psalm 119, Matthew 26, and Luke 1. But there is only one book with 73 or more chapters, the book of Psalms.

So I turned to Psalm 73. Here, a man names Asaph speaks of how he almost slipped up. He became envious of the wicked, the boastful, the proud, because as far as he could see, they were not plagued with troubles like Asaph and the other righteous men around him.

Asaph says "I've cleansed my heart and washed my hands in vain, because I have been plagued all day, and rebuked every morning."

And this is so relatable these days. But even more relatable is what Asaph says next. Basically, he goes, "Look, if I were to go by appearances, I would say that you, Lord, have been false to our generation, failing to keep your promises."

Ouch. How often has the same thought crossed my mind? Lord, you used to do signs and wonders. You raised up mighty war heroes. You sent fire from heaven and angelic messengers. Why don't we see more of that? Why have you abandoned your people in this generation? We are mocked and scorned by a world who sees religion as foolishness.

But after complaining about his plight, listen to what Asaph says next.

"When I tried to reason through these things, it was too great a burden for me to bear. Until I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end."

The wicked have no sanctuary. They seem so well off, yet they are consumed with terror. But when we, who dwell in the sanctuary of our God, put our trust in him and draw near to him, we do not have such terrors, for our destiny is sure.

So what is the sanctuary? Church? The Tabernacle? Well, originally, the Tabernacle. But in Ezekiel, when God is speaking the prophecy of Israel's captivity, he says this: "I removed them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries; nevertheless, I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries to which they have gone."

The sanctuary is not a place. The sanctuary is anywhere that we enter the presence of the Lord in spirit and in truth. Sometimes church, the assembly of fellow believers. Sometimes out on the middle of a lake or on a strip of sand beside the ocean. Sometimes on a mountain or in the woods. Anywhere you can still your heart and respond to Adonai's glory.

And even in the midst of chaos and stormy weather, we can still enter his sanctuary. It may be difficult, but He is still here with his people.

I have no idea what I'm looking forward to in 2024. Anything could happen. But I know this. Yahweh is my sanctuary, and I will dwell in him.