Sanctuary has
been a developing theme in Mary’s and my life as some of you know. The process has been one of faith,
believing that in God’s time, the ideas we know He gave us in the past would be
worked into what we do in the present.
The past is known
to us, we each see the work of God in our lives and remember what He has done
for us as well as for those around us.
We can see the work of the Lord around us and when we remember, this can
help our faith towards the future.
The present we know quite well as we live in it. It is the future that we find is more
uncertain. To many of us this can
be be scary or the process of the unknown can cause us to be concerned with how
it will all turn out.
In my recent
reading I have found some thoughts of others to be helpful in these thoughts
about seeing what God would want us to do in the future. We could also say that this is a
further continual seeking after the Lord’s will in our lives. We have found that a daily, constant
dependence upon the Lord for His strength and His peace is where we need to be
grounded.
Among the many
verses we could turn to is one in Psalm 105:4
“Seek the LORD and His strength: seek His face continually.”
Charles Swindoll’s words from The Mystery of God’s Will have
been a help to Mary and I.
“Discovering and embracing God’s will leads us to
make major adjustments. And that requires us to release and risk – releasing
the familiar and risking whatever the future may bring. That’s the bottom line of fleshing out
God’s will . . .
We are
only finite human beings. We can
only see the present and the past.
The future is a little frightening to us. So we need to hold onto God’s hand and trust Him to calm our
fears. And at those times when
we’re stubborn and resisting and God shakes us by the shoulders to get out
attention, we’re reminded that we don’t call our own shots, that God has a plan
for us, mysterious though it may seem, and we want to be in the center of it”
We agree, we want to be in the center of God’s will and the work the He
is doing. We are praying and
believing that Sanctuary will be this to many who can be a part of staying with
us or of visiting for encouragement or for just keeping in touch. Sanctuary is about coming together to
be an encouragement to each other by being with one another. Fellowship is a key ingredient of
Christians working together and doing so with harmony and real
understanding. Christian community
– Fellowship - needs us to be real and accept each other as we are. Acceptance shows that the things that
makes each of us distinctive is that which is accepted by others – even when it
grates. We recognize that some
have much to offer and some have less and we each want the chance to be heard
and appreciated and understood and accepted for who we are.
Our good friend and encourager, Ron Robertson, encouraged us to read the
following poem by John Newton. I
think this is a good ‘prayer’ to start the year with.
“Blessed be the throne of
grace,
The promise calls me near;
There Jesus shows a smiling
face,
And waits to answer prayer.
That rich atoning blood,
Which sprinkled round I see,
Provides for those who come
to God,
An all-prevailing plea.
My soul, ask what thou wilt,
Thou canst not be too bold;
Since His own blood for thee
was spilt,
What else can He withold?
Beyond thine utmost wants,
His love and power can bless:
To praying souls he always
grants
More than they can express.
Thine image, Lord bestow,
Thy presence and Thy love:
I ask to serve Thee here
below,
And reign with Thee above.”
John Newton