Recall what Habakkuk
said in 2:20. He said, “The Lord is in His Holy Temple. Let all the earth be
silent before Him.” This caught my eye as I was reading this chapter. Why is
this significant? We know where we can always find the Lord, and be still and
hushed in His presence. That place is His sanctuary.
Pieces of wood or stone
made by humans into statues have less power than the man who carved them. They
were inanimate before the carving and remained that way after the carving. The
one who carved them into a shape has more power than the object. No place is holy
to these objects because it has no power to make a place holy or sacred.
Holiness is imbued by the character and power of a being. The only one who has
this kind of power is Yahweh God. He cleanses and makes holy a place for His
habitation by His decree. If we each proclaim a place clean that does not mean it
actually is clean. We’ve just moved the dirt from one place to another or
missed something. We do not have the power to declare something, someone, or some
place clean or holy because we ourselves are sinful and unholy. We cannot even
make something that is holy because of our sinfulness.
When we search for and
find this place of holiness, the temple of God, we may enter. We must remember
we will be in the presence of almighty, holy God. What right do we have to
bring our filthy selves before Him? None, but He made a way for us to be
cleansed and made holy through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus. Once
accepting Jesus as your Savior and repenting of all your sins, you are clean.
God sets you apart as His child. This setting apart is the act of “making
holy.” God set apart and made His temple holy, sacred. Can you imagine the release
and relief of a person who feels the weight of their dirtiness removed from
their heart, mind, and soul? God’s “making holy” provides release and relief.
It’s like a huge cleansing breath after being in the basement of a dank
building. The sky is clean; the sun shines; the darkness departs.
Even though we tasted
this cleansing, this deep breath of release and relief, why do we choose to go
back to our old ways? Why do we choose to chase idols of the heart, mind, and
flesh? Who would purposely choose to carry a weight on his chest bearing him down
as he tried to rise from the floor every moment of the day? That is what we do
when we tell our idols to awake or arise as Habakkuk said in verse 19. If we must
wake our gods, they are no gods at all. They are products of our minds and
hands. If they come from our hands, they have no power - no power over our
present situation or our future. They cannot cleanse and make a person holy or
sacred. They cannot declare a place holy. The person who made the thing is the
only voice heard.
If we must wake our gods, they are
no gods at all.
This then brings us
back to what Habakkuk said in verse 20. The Lord is in His holy temple. We can find
Him there. Always. He has breath. He is alive and doesn’t need to be awakened.
The Lord created the holy temple. He has the ability and desire to make you His
holy child, too. He is awake. He is aware. He is Holy and love. God wants to
make you clean so you can enter His temple and come to Him.
“Come to Me all who are
weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 11:28] Only God can
say that. Only He has the power do it. Only He loves you enough to offer it
with no attachments, no tricks, and no requirements.
Come
to God with your heavy hearts.
Come
to Him with your pain.
Come
to God with your broken hearts and spirit.
Come
to Him with defeat and exhaustion.
Come
to Holy God and find rest, cleansing, love, and hope.
Nothing created by the
hands of people can give this. They have less power than the person who made
them. We humans cannot make ourselves holy, give ourselves soul peace, heal
pain, broken hearts, and spirit, or give refreshing rest. Human-made idols cannot
give you this.
God
leaves it at that – COME.
Lord,
I come to You exhausted, broken, sinful, hopeless, unloved, and filled with
pain. I ask to come into Your presence. I seek your Holiness and to be in Your
presence. Please cleanse me, calm and restore my soul, heal my broken heart,
and give me your sweet rest. Show me my sins against you so I may repent and enter
into Your presence.
