The first call sent from above to bring this sanctuary together came in the form of a dove. Working on my computer in a back room of the house, my ears caught on to a relentless cooing that sounded like it was right in my kitchen. As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I stood eye to eye with a dove who had perched herself square in the center of the window on the back of my porch swing. Having never noticed a dove out here before, I was intrigued that she was nonetheless within arms length and so bold. Once my attention was captured and I was humbled by the unlikely event that was unfolding in that moment, the Lord spoke to my heart.
Two doves, at a minimum, have remained on the sanctuary property since that day. Throughout the scripture, the dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit. There are many examples, but Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22 and John 1:32 all describe the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus in the likeness of a dove after he was baptized in water by John the Baptist. Matthew's account is perhaps my favorite: " And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightaway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened up to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him."
God speaks to us through His Word. You may have heard this said before but what does that mean? Isn't the Bible just a book that was written thousands of years ago? Surely that cannot contain everything that God has to say in just over 1500 pages! It actually does-- in the same way that I knew that the brave little dove on my porch swing was a call from my Heavenly Father, God speaks to you through the established principles and truths of His Word. Surely, it was not written in the testimony of Matthew, Luke or anywhere else that God would call a horse sanctuary into existence in year 2021. However, the words that He did say in the Bible spoke in my heart and out of that, he transcribed a new message just for me.
God's Word is living and this is how He speaks. If I did not know that God established the dove as a symbol for His Spirit, how might I have responded to this message that He sent just for me? Written it off as a coincidence? An odd circumstance that just "is what it is"? I would have missed God in this message. The more that we take His Word into our heart, the more that we notice His communication with us. As we grow in understanding, we not only fellowship with Him more, but we also look back and see how often He was reaching out in our past as well. He is such a good, good Father.
He never changes His love for you, nor does he speak to you more or less depending on your devotion to Him. He is always the same and He has given you everything that you need to be able to fellowship with Him in spite of the communication barrier that lies between our natural world and His spiritual world. You will find that as you read His Word, you become more alive in the spiritual world and less proficient in the natural world-- and that is awesome!
Beautiful💕