The Sanctuary of God

I spend a lot of time in my Christian walk pondering the idea "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." That idea is from John Piper. 


Now, I don't know about you, but I want to glorify God with my life, and I'm fairly sure you do too. 


So I want to be completely satisfied in Him. He is enough for me.


But there's this psalm. Psalm 73, and the author is complaining hard core. He is whining about how the wicked prosper, and he works honestly day and night and just gets pain and suffering. He's complaining that his life isn't fair. 


But right in the middle, he stops complaining.


Something has changed.


"Then I went into the sanctuary of God."


Wow. You read the psalm, and it's a pretty abrupt change. 


He ends with this:

Yet I am always with you; 

       you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, 

       and afterward you will 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.

Those who are far from you will perish; 

       you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God. 

       I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; 

       I will tell of all your deeds.

Let me really emphasize this. This is the guy who JUST said, "Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence." He was about ready to leave God, and say, "Forget this! My life would be so much better without you!"


"But then I went into the sanctuary of God."


So often, we get disillusioned with our lives of holiness. "Seriously, God? You expect me to live like this when I could have so much more fun living like them?"


It is so easy for us to go running after other things to satisfy us. SO EASY. We use facebook, twitter, work, church, other people's opinions of us, sex, drugs, and rock and roll to satisfy us.


"But if our deepest desires cannot be satisfied in this world, we must have been made for another." (CS Lewis)


Then I went into the sanctuary of God.


Once I caught a glimpse of his beauty, his majesty, his glory, and his love, I couldn't look to anything else in all of creation to satisfy. Only the Creator can satisfy.


So I find myself constantly praying, "Lord, satisfy me in the morning with your unfailing love so that I won't go running after other things to satisfy me today."


These thoughts are on my mind because I really feel like I entered into the sanctuary of God this morning. We had an incredible time of prayer as an Extreme Team this morning, and encountered God. And after that, I couldn't get beat down by the attacks of the enemy, by the drudgery of going to school, by anything else that is a distraction. 


Because I got a glimpse of the beauty and holiness of God, and that changes things.


I can only be satisfied in the Cosmic God of the Universe, and when I seek him, He is always enough.


(If you know me, you know there is pretty much always a song in my head to go along with my thoughts. As I was writing this, I had three come into my head. They are "My God's Enough (Psalm 73)" by Barlowgirl with Todd Agnew, "Satisfy" by Tenth Avenue North, and "Show Me Your Glory" by Third Day. If you are going to be praying that prayer, I'd encourage you to listen to those songs.)