The Safety of Sacrifice

I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, my King and my God!

Psalms 84:2-3 NLT

Most of us don’t think of sacrifice as a place of safety. Sacrifice is where we feel fragile and vulnerable (aka, the opposite of safe). I don’t know about you, but I seem to have an obsession with safety in my life. I pick jobs that make me feel safe, I pick people who make me feel safe, I spend money in ways that make me feel safe… But the sad truth is, safety is just an illusion on this side of heaven. No matter how hard I try to stay safe, it can still be taken away in an instant.

This verse from Psalm 84 uncovered a DEEP lack of trust in my heart. Every time I draw close to God, I expect Him to ask me for something. Whether He’s asking me to give up my time, or my money, or my energy, or my heart… At some point during that process, I am going to lose control of something that is precious to me: something that makes me feel safe.

Maybe there’s a reason God always seems to ask me for something when I draw close to Him. Maybe He’s hoping that one day, when my hands are finally empty, I will recognize HIM as my only Hiding Place (Psalm 32:7). He is the only thing in this world or any other that does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17). He stays steady when everything else spins out of control. He remains immovable when everything else crumbles to pieces. I think I know now why the sparrow chose God’s altar of sacrifice as the place to build her nest. It’s because that’s where she could be as close as possible to His presence.

Hannah