He put the cherubs in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Their wings were spread out. One of the first cherub’s wings touched one wall and one of the other cherub’s wings touched the opposite wall. (1 Kings 6:27)
I lay awake at 3:00 a.m., angry at an electronics store. Oh, what pathetic trivia can consume my thoughts in the unguarded watches of the night. The store had refused to honor a warranty and I replayed conversations about their responsibility.
The Bible says don't let the sun go down while you hold a grudge against a person, but I allowed bitterness over an institution.
I used praise to push the ugliness aside, but before long I was back to condemning the store manager, while the clock crept toward 4:00 a.m.
“I don’t have the power to move off these petty thoughts,” I prayed. “Help me Holy Spirit, help me.”
I felt the expansiveness of Jesus move into my heart and I laughed at my weakness against vain thoughts. After a time of sweet worship, joy led to sleep.
I am the replacement for Solomon’s demolished temple of God. My body, mind, and spirit are chambers of worship.
To overcome insomnia, I walked through the temple court of my body. Past dependence on the Holy Place in my mind, and into the Most Holy Place of my spirit. There I bowed to God. When I realized that all I am is not enough to live a godly life, then he met me in the sacred inner sanctuary. It’s a space marked by repentance, a turning away from what I never had, to receive what he always offered.
In that moment of yielding, Jehovah filled my Holy of Holies with smoke and stretched his ministering angels from wall to wall. I became more than an empty human with vanities rattling about my head. I was a temple of the Most High God, filled with power to conquer even the most challenging of kingdom assignments, up to, and including sleep.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, I’m done with me. Fill me in the inner sanctuary.