He Makes Room

He makes room for us. Will we make room for Him?

As I sit down to write, I have a picture in my mind of Jesus saving a seat for me right next to Him in church. When I enter into the sanctuary, He beckons me with a smile on His face to come sit down. “Come sit with Me, I saved you a seat!”

If the churches we attend are at all worth their salt, then we sit next to Jesus every time we enter in. The Bible says that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20). But the truth of the matter is that there is a seat open for us right next to Jesus every day of the week, and not just on Sundays when we’re showered, well-dressed, and have all our ducks in a row.

His invitation is constant. In fact, right next to Him is where He wants us to reside at all times, without exception. Wherever your relationship with the Lord is at this moment, He is calling you to go deeper still…

To Us He Beckons

A husband and wife story…

One particular Sunday morning at church, my family couldn’t sit in our typical spot. It was baptism Sunday and the families of those being baptized filled our section. We were happy to relocate… we love baptism Sundays.

The new section we chose had shorter rows, so we couldn’t all fit on one. I sat on a row with my parents and daughter, while my son sat in front of us on the row just ahead. My husband was on the stage and had just finished playing his bass guitar when our pastor started giving the announcements.

In that moment, I caught my husband’s eye and gestured that he could sit just ahead of me next to our son. He knew what I was trying to say, but he raised his eyebrow in that playful way he always does, and barely shook his head, “no.” With a grin, I quietly activated my made up sign language one more time, but still he wasn’t having it.

Several minutes after worship ended, my husband appeared and sat in the row just ahead of me, a few seats over from our son. Then he looked back at me with that same raised eyebrow and motioned for me to come sit next to him. These are the moments that make my heart smile…

Our pastor was already well into the beginning of his sermon by that point, and we were sitting on the third or fourth row from the front in the middle section. My nearly 6-foot tall self standing up to move would not go unseen, so I hesitated… but my husband beckoned me to come to him all the same.

So I got up and went.

Now, I’m not going to make a marriage lesson out of this story, but what if I had decided to stay where I was? Nothing bad would have happened… the world would have kept turning. However, it only took a few little steps to close the distance between myself and my husband in that moment. After 25 years of marriage, distance is our number one enemy.

Wouldn’t we say that distance is what we battle in our relationship with the Lord, as well?

Just like in marriage, we must do everything we can to close the distance between us and God, both in big ways and small. We cannot let ourselves grow apart from Him, we must stay on the same page with lines of communication open! Otherwise, our love will grow cold and our hearts will turn away.

We must fight the distance... but we cannot do it by ourselves. The Father makes room for us by His grace, and He will teach us how to grow in closeness with Him.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

Reminded of His Grace

The Lord makes room for our weakness by empowering us with His own strength (2 Cor. 12:9). He makes room for our faults and mistakes by loving, accepting, and forgiving us unconditionally (1 John 1:9). He makes room for our failures by giving us the ability to rise again… and again… and again… by His grace (Prov 24:16).

Like a good Father, He makes room in His schedule to stop and hear our prayers, rejoice with our victories, and bring His peace into our hearts. He takes all of our calls. He answers all of our many, many questions by His Word. He is endlessly patient with us… gentle, loving, and kind.

And He never leaves (Heb 13:5).

He makes room even when we don’t deserve it. Especially then, it seems. When darkness has fallen and all hope seems lost… He shines His light in the midst of our despair and makes Hope our anchor on stormy seas (Heb. 6:19). He is our salvation, steady and strong.

No matter the circumstance, He meets us perfectly, right where we are. In this way, by this kind of grace, the Father makes room for us.

Responding to Love

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;  and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?”

Luke 17:15-17

Many of us do not know how to respond to love. We may not have experienced unconditional love in this lifetime. We are spread thin with worries and busyness, and our hearts may be guarded and suspicious. We automatically think, “What does He really want from me?” We’ve heard that He might be difficult to please. We’ve heard that He might leave us if we’re not perfect. We’ve unfortunately heard that He is angry with us because of our mistakes and our sin.

Let’s think about the story of Jesus healing the ten lepers (referenced above, Luke 17:11-19). Jesus was just walking along the road and ten men suffering with leprosy cried out to Him for healing. He didn’t ask them any questions, He didn’t condemn them, and He wasn’t angry with them for asking… He simply made room for their humanity and answered their prayers. He directed them to go show themselves to the priest, and on the way, they were healed.

The finale of this story is a beautiful example of our part in closing the distance between us and God. Even though ten men were healed, only one returned to say thank you, and he was a foreigner (a Samaritan). Upon seeing this, Jesus responded, “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then He told the man, “Go in peace. Your faith has made you well.”

So often in the New Testament, it’s those who did not grow up familiar with God who are so often the most grateful when He sets them free (Samaritans, Roman soldiers, Gentiles, etc.). It’s the same way today. Unfortunately, when we have been with God for all or most of our lives, His blessings can become so “old hat” that we lose our sensitivity and thankfulness for all He has done. We can so easily become like those other nine lepers who were healed, but never thought to respond.

Thankfulness Opens the Door

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.

Revelation 3:20

The number one thing the Father wants from us is real relationship. Jesus is always knocking on the door of our hearts, always offering His best way for our lives, always leading us and helping us to follow Him. Just as the Father has made room for us by His grace, we must make room for Him in our lives, as well.

We make room for Him by our thankfulness.

When we set our minds and keep them set on all the Lord has done for us, we will overflow with thankfulness (Col. 2:6-7). Our thankfulness allows the walls to come down between us and God. We live in a world full of trouble, and our minds can easily become darkened by our circumstances. When we begin to remind ourselves of the Lord’s incredible blessings and speak them out in worship and praise to Him, it’s like switching on a light so we can see Him more clearly.

We make room for Him by our trust.

Honesty and trust are the most important things in any healthy relationship. My husband and I cannot have a lasting, satisfying marriage if we are never honest about our anger and frustrations. We cannot have intimacy and vulnerability if we do not trust each other. All of this takes work and practice, and it’s no different in our relationship with God. He is strong enough to handle our truth. He can be trusted (Prov. 29:25).

If you are hurt, tell Him you are hurt. If you are angry, even if you are angry with Him, be honest about your emotions and tell Him why you feel this way. Lay it all on the table, and He will meet you with His truth and love, and He will give you rest (Matt. 11:28). Whatever you are carrying, and we are all carrying something, ask Him for His help and He will meet you right where you are.

We make room for Him by our obedience.

The Bible tells us that if we love the Lord, we will do what He commands (John 14:15). He is not a distant Father, and He is not a harsh taskmaster. Even though what God asks of us may be difficult or challenging at times, His commands will always lead us into lasting freedom, abundant joy, and eternal purpose. God’s ways are better. If we love Him, then we will follow Him.

I read recently that one of the signs of spiritual maturity is the desire to be corrected by God. It is ultimately the desire to become everything God designed us to be so that we may DO all that He has planned for us to do (Eph. 2:10). In this way, we fulfill the calling of God on our lives for His eternal purposes. Usually this means allowing God to work through us so we can, in some way, use our gifts to help others come to Him.

Unity in the Body

One final thing I would like to add is this… we make room for God when we seek unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the purpose of everything the Father has done for us through Christ, and by His grace: that we might be one as Jesus and the Father are One. In this way, we become a lighthouse drawing all people into His love (Matt. 5:14-16)…

“I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one. ²³ I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent me and that You love them as much as You love Me.

John 17:22-23

Jesus is calling us into deeper relationship with Him so that we may have unity in the body. Unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ will show the world just who God is. It will prove that Jesus was sent by God, and that God loves us ever so much more deeply than we can fathom. When we love each other, the world will know that God is real and we belong to Him.

Why is this important? We make room for God – in response to the infinite greatness of all He has done for us – when we care about what God cares about… PEOPLE. He makes room for US, so that ultimately, we will make room for OTHERS. He desires that none should perish, and that all would be set free in Christ. YOU can be a part of that, if you so desire.

Will you seek Him in a greater way today? Be sure to ask Him for help. We can only follow Him as He shows us how.