A Little Sanctuary

Ezekiel 11:16
“Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.”

One of the greatest secrets of life that will help you to keep your sanity when going through tough times is found in the verse above. Israel was scattered among the heathen because of their sin. They were in captivity on foreign soil. Yet, though they were scattered among the countries, God told them that He would be to “them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.”

This, my friend, is the secret to keeping your sanity when you are in life’s captivity. When everything in life seems to be against you, you are going to have to find yourself a little sanctuary from your troubles of life so that you can stay focused on God. One of the ways I have made it all these years through many hardships that life has brought my way is that I have learned to get away from the captivity by having a little sanctuary to get alone with God so that the pressures of the captivity don’t overwhelm me.

What captivity do you find yourself facing today? Are you captive in a marital conflict where the one you once shared the same home with are battling over your children and life seems to be a total chaos? Are you captive to a sickness that grips your body and the joy of health seems to be a distant memory? Are you captive to the pressures of finance that seem so overwhelming that you don’t see any way out of your situation? Are you captive to turmoil on a job that once seemed to have a promising future? What is your captivity that you find yourself facing today? The answer to making it through your captivity is to have a little sanctuary where you can get away and have a little reprieve to give yourself some relief from the pressures of your captivity. There a two little sanctuaries where you can escape to regularly that will help you when you are facing the pressures of your captivity.

The first sanctuary is church. Hebrews 10:25 exhorts the believer not to forsake the assembling because it is when you assemble in church where you will find the exhortation and encouragement to continue on in spite of the circumstances you face in your daily life. When you miss church, you are missing your little sanctuary that gives you a reprieve from the pressures of the world. There is no way you are going to make it through the struggles of life without cracking if you miss the sanctuary of church. When you walk into the doorways of your church every week is when you get to escape the troubles of the world that you face. You need church so that you can have your escape from your pressures of life.

The second sanctuary is the prayer closet. Matthew 6:6 says, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret…” Wherever your place of prayer is, that is the place where you have a little sanctuary to dump your problems of life on God. The prayer closet is more than just a place where you kneel to pray, but it is a sanctuary to get relief from the troubles of life.

Let me ask you; are you trying to face your captivity alone? Do you need a place to escape from the troubles of life? Your answer is to get to your little sanctuary, for it is there where you can unload the pressures of life on God.

Author: Allen Domelle