{"id":18528,"date":"2026-02-04T07:29:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshhope.us\/?p=18528"},"modified":"2026-02-04T07:29:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T12:29:41","slug":"sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshhope.us\/es\/sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve recently been seeing a new Christian therapist. One of her areas of specialty is helping patients learn to deal with chronic pain, which speaks to an issue in my life lately. We\u2019ve only met three times, but I already love working with her, and she\u2019s guiding me as I learn how to live in this new reality\u2026I want to do it in a way that honors God and where I remain kind and gentle and approachable, despite pain. And I am beginning to see parallels in living with a mental health challenge, and living with chronic pain. Let me explain.<\/span><\/p>\n

At my last visit with my therapist, she asked me to reflect on what I did to manage my depression all those years ago, which was a 10+ year journey. As we talked, I shared with her that I used to go to a boat landing along a river, especially when I was overwhelmed with depression at work, but didn\u2019t want to go home. I\u2019d sit along the river in my car, often with the windows rolled down so that I could hear the wind in the trees and the birds singing, and I\u2019d nap, or listen to music, or journal, or cry; sometimes, I\u2019d call a friend. Just a safe place to be, with no one having expectations of me. I\u2019d stay an hour, sometimes two, until it was time to go home and re-enter family life, make dinner, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

My therapist listened carefully, and then gave that place a word: <\/span>sanctuary<\/span><\/i>. And she asked me to explore the idea of sanctuary as it now relates to living with chronic pain. What made it safe? What did I like about it? How did it refresh me? And what if it\u2019s not a place, necessarily? What would it look like to have a sanctuary in my current situation, that of living with ongoing pain?<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve journaled on this concept several times since she and I talked, and then the word \u201csanctuary\u201d jumped off the page of the Bible this week. I was reading a morning devotional, and Psalm 18:6 NLT says, \u201cBut in my distress I cried out to the <\/span>Lord<\/span>; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow! <\/span>God\u2019s<\/i><\/b> sanctuary!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In some ways, this word is not a surprise. God\u2019s Word talks about God in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, on His throne, or in His temple. But that day, the word sanctuary seemed really significant. So I did some research on the Biblical meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miqdash<\/span><\/i> is Hebrew for sanctuary \u2013 a holy place set apart for the dwelling of God\u2019s presence and for worship. One definition goes on to say that it\u2019s a sacred consecrated space where the divine meets the human. It\u2019s the dwelling place of God. It symbolizes safety and refuge. And it\u2019s important to understand this Biblical narrative of God\u2019s desire to dwell among His people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wow, again! What an incredible reminder\u2026God wants to dwell with us. In fact, once we\u2019ve declared Jesus as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell <\/span>in<\/span><\/i> us. <\/span>We<\/span><\/i> become the sanctuary; God dwells in me! The Bible says, \u201cThe Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.\u201d Romans 8:11a NLT\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So now I want to apply this to me, to my circumstances. Again, what is sanctuary for me when I\u2019m experiencing the back pain that requires I stop, wait, rest?<\/span><\/p>\n

Some things that I can bring forward, from my depression sanctuary to finding sanctuary in pain:<\/span><\/p>\n