Where has your beloved gone,
most beautiful of women?
Which way did your beloved turn,
that we may look for him with you?
She
2My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to browse in the gardens
and to gather lilies.
3I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine;
he browses among the lilies. Song 6:1-3
I have been meditating on the thought of OASIS that was first inspired by the Daily Post in its Daily prompt,
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/oasis/
A sanctuary is a place you can escape to, to catch your breath and remember who you are. Write about the place you go to when everything is a bit too much.
The idea of SANCTUARY keeps rolling around in my head and it has been deepened by some of my fellow writers: Deb in her blog shared how God is her sanctuary.
And then Ben in his share pointed out that WE are God’s sanctuary!
These two seemingly oppositional thoughts have ignited an excitement in me that just keeps growing. How is it possible that God should be our sanctuary or oasis and we should be God’s?
Well it’s not possible outside of personal relationship.
Lot’s of people use God as a sanctuary in times of trouble. They pray when it’s necessary. They say the Our Father or quote Psalm 23 and many times God shows up and covers them because He is a God of love.
But for a person to be God’s sanctuary well that is an entirely different matter. God never needs us the way we need Him. No situation will ever arise where God will find Himself in trouble or danger. If there ever were such a situation, I assure you, He would not come running to any of us for help. When the Bible talks about us being the temple of the Holy Spirit or the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit it is not speaking about God coming to us to hide but about God coming to us to create intimacy.
God doesn’t want or need our protection. An oasis for Him is not about provision of any temporal need. It is about relationship. God created us as empty vessels to be filled with Himself. He wanted us to become a place where he could rest His love and settle His presence!
Oh! now that’s exciting!
Lillie-Put 
Yes, Yes, Yes – I love this Pastor J. (you knew I would) This is what I must pursue in 2015. I get it in my head, but I want to KNOW this.
Reblogged this on Another Red Letter Day and commented:
Pastor J. makes so clear what I was pondering in my post “Oasis”
Lovely way to start my day…Thank You 🙂
THank you and thanks for visiting.
This is oh, so good, Pastor J!!!
Thanks Deb and thanks for being part of the inspiration behind it.
I want to be a sanctuary where He rests His love and settles His Presence! What a profoundly beautiful thought. Thankyou!
Thanks for saying so. I am floored by this picture. That God would even consider such a thing is beyond me!