A Living Sanctuary

Lord prepare me, to be a sanctuary.
Pure and Holy, tried and true,
From the song “Sanctuary” by R. Scruggs & J. Thompson

A few weeks ago, I posted “Dancing Again” (April 15, 2012) and indicated that I thought the Lord was literally teaching me to dance. Now weeks later, I hadn’t really had opportunities to physically dance. The literal dancing could still happen as I then thought, but, also in that time, I came across three books that talked about learning how to dance in a figurative way. It baffled me that as I read and got to the end of a chapter, it ended with something about dancing. John Ortberg’s book “Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them” for example, has questions at the end of each chapter with the heading “Learning to Dance”.

I haven’t finished reading all three books except “Soul Talk” by Larry Crabb. It taught me a LOT! He wrote:

I’ve been on the religious journey, trying to do what it takes to make my life work and to feel alive. I want to trade in all that self-obsession for God obsession.
Into abandonment: I’ll follow the Spirit wherever He tells me to go because I am willing to risk trusting God even when He does nothing visible to warrant my trust.
Toward confidence: God’s been dancing all along. Now I’m walking onto the dance floor. I can hear the music. I’m actually dancing, and I feel alive.
Resulting in release: Now I want to bless those who have hurt me. My pain isn’t the point. Yes, I still hurt, but I’m becoming God obsessed! I’m a little more like Jesus! And it’s who I really am. I’m discovering my true self. This is joy!

and what he wrote resonates within me. I realize I’m not where he is but I do want to learn to become confident, and I know the Lord is teaching me how. In due season, I will learn to dance and feel truly alive!

I know part of the process is learning to be used in a sacrificial way. It hasn’t surprised me that the song above started to play in my head last week. What surprised me (and maybe it shouldn’t?) was that it was sung at church yesterday. It’s an old song so it isn’t usual to hear it sung. As I sat there at the end of the service (usually in that church, we’re asked to be silent for a few minutes before leaving), I mused on the aptness of the song sung during worship. As I chuckled to myself about the wonder of God, the instrumental for the same song played again. =)

With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living sanctuary, for you.