This is the first Sunday of 2024, and, naturally, we dedicate this day to worship with our brothers and sisters in our respective local churches. We drive, commute, or walk to the house of worship, and enter the sanctuary of God. Physically, we step into the church.
In this article, I want to talk about another meaning of entering the sanctuary of God. As you know, this is the slogan of SPA. It is drawn from Psalm 73:17 NIV, “till I entered the sanctuary of God…”
In Psalm 73, we see Asaph, a servant of God just like you and I. Asaph, after observing the seemingly trouble-free lives of the ungodly, became vexed in his spirit and became envious of them. Those people’s lives appeared to be more interesting, more pleasurable, and more enjoyable than his life as one who was striving to be faithful before God.
‘“My feet had almost slipped”, he says in verse 2, meaning he almost stumbled, or even almost backslid. He became convinced that serving God was in vain (verse 11). He laments in verse 21, “My heart was grieved, and my spirit embittered.”
He tried his best to understand it, to make sense of it all, which proved to be an exercise in futility. Instead of gaining some enlightenment, he thought of the whole thing as oppressive. Oppressive is a strong word. To him the entire situation was harsh, cruel, crushing, unbearable. It’s unfair, he might have even cried out.
Thankfully, it actually ended well for our guy Asaph. He did something that changed his entire perspective, and because of that, he lived to write this beautiful psalm for us. What did he do? Well, he entered the sanctuary of God.
He exclaimed in verse 17, “Till I entered the sanctuary of God, then I understood their final destiny.”
Upon entering the sanctuary of God, the load was lifted off his heart and soul! He felt near to God. He felt peace and inner happiness. And he wrote these beautiful profound verses:
Yet I am always with You; You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with Your counsel; And afterward You take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart may fail; But God is the strength of my heart
And my portion forever… It is good to be near God, I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge (23-28).
We praise God for we have this powerful example to look up to as believers in this time and age. If Asaph’s time was so spiritually vexing, how much more in our time? Without question our time is so much more evil and deceitful, vexing the spirit of God’s true believers.
Unless we do what Asaph did, we will sink and drown in our own doubts, fears, and questions. We need to enter the sanctuary of God as well, just like Asaph did. First, we need to go to church, in person, and be engaged fully; immersing ourselves in songs, prayers, and, especially the Word.
Doing SPA is another way of entering the presence of God. The good thing about SPA is we can do it anywhere and anytime. SPA It is carving out time and space for us and God alone. It is yearning, thirsting, and being hungry for God. Be it in our cars, in our showers, in our kitchen, or in the quiet of our scripture meditation.
I pray that you will make time for those little moments with God. We need to do it intentionally, mindfully, and regularly. Let us make it an awareness, a lifestyle. And like Asaph, surely you will be enveloped in God’s peace, love, and happiness.
Share your moments of SPA below. We’d love to hear from you and be blessed. To God be the glory!
Helping and inspiring women Livingstones to achieve deeper godliness by developing a habit of engaging in personal spiritual self-care (soul-care).
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