Friday, August 29, 2025
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. Psalms 46:4-5
Sanctuary
Do you ever just want to bury your head under the covers and ignore everything that is going on in your life? Problems come, sometimes like bullets fast and hard. Often, we don’t have time to even process one thing before something else comes piling down on top. Trying to solve our problems when we don’t have any resources or hope will only add to our feelings of anxiety and sadness. It makes us feel more out of control, and more hopeless, which sends us spiraling further down into irrational thoughts, feelings, and fear. It is more than we can deal with, so we just don’t, which causes more problems. Whether it is just too painful to deal with, or you are fearful, our Heavenly Father offers us a beautiful, peaceful sanctuary in His very presence that gives us so much more peace than hiding under the covers.
The devil wants to take our focus off God and create unrest in our souls. If he can create unrest in our souls, then he knows that we likely will start looking around for something to make us feel better quickly. The things that we turn to can become idols and/or addictions in our lives. Living in fear or circumstances that are too difficult for us to deal with can also cause us to turn to other things besides God to numb that pain or fear. What happens then? They can turn into bigger problems which then heap more fear and sorrow onto what we are already not dealing with.
I have found that sitting in the quiet with God early in the morning has done wonders for my heart. I may not even pray, because many times I don’t even know what to say, but God know my heart, and He knows yours too. When our hearts are heavy and we have no words, silent, still time helps to get our focus back on God, and HIS TRUTH where it belongs. God’s truth is the only place where we can find freedom from everything – pain, worry, anxiety, fear. If we try to find freedom on our own, we will never find it. The world doesn’t have it, regardless of how hard Satan tries to persuade us it does.
The Peaceful, Flowing Presence of God
God’s presence in our lives is the only thing that can provide us with the peace we so desperately need. His presence flows continuously and never runs out. He will not abandon us or leave us, even when we feel He is not there. That is where we trust what we know and not what we feel. We know God’s word is true and He says He will never leave us and that His presence will always be with us.
No one understands our heart like our Heavenly Father. No one understands the pain, anxiousness, sorrow, worry, or fear that we experience like He does. There is no better place for us to go for comfort than to Him. In His presence there is a sanctuary where we can sit quietly, talk to Him and tell Him everything that makes our heart hurt, and leave it with Him. He is so capable, and He has everything we need.
The dwelling place of the Most High is within us. He is with us always and in him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Take a seat by the river. Take refuge in the shadow of His wings. Feast on His abundance, and rest in His truth – that He will trade your sadness, problems, anger, fear, etc… and give you the peace you need.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:7-9
