Endangered spaces

These last 2 weeks have passed me by so quickly, I’ve paused slightly to reflect upon that fact that I can so easily get lost in the busyness of life. Whatever happened to those spaces we promise ourselves, those times where we sit back, relax and smell the roses; those sacred spaces; those spaces where God speaks into our lives in unique and awe inspiring ways?

Ever since I made the decision to be a Jesus follower, I also picked up on certain things from Christians around me, things that I thought I should do in order to be a true Christian, things like having ‘quiet times with God’. For years I tried this, prayer times, journaling, daily devotions, etc. You name it, I tried it, none of them worked, well it sort of did for a while, but the routine never stuck. I would get the guilt’s over this all the time, ‘was I a bad Christian?’

It is so hard to find regular spaces where we can just ponder life and the wonder of God in amongst it. They become endangered spaces, spaces in danger of extinction if we don’t stop and realise we may need to re-order our lives to allow the spaces to unfold.
I found that forcing myself to have spaces, because it was ‘expected of me’ or out of a sense of guilt, was just the wrong motivation for creating that God space. I gave up on that long ago. I now create those spaces out of a sense of necessity. It’s space to pause in the traffic, to clear the mind, to allow the Holy Spirit to ‘refill you’, to know and understand the presence of God.

But we have a problem in our fast paced culture. ‘Being’ and pondering is considered a waste of time unless it’s in front of a TV screen or something of the like where we are being entertained. We fill the spaces with everything but the pondering of the presence of God. So, is being still and doing nothing really a waste of time? Have you ever tried it, just for an hour a week? You’d be amazed at what you discover about yourself and God. Maybe that’s the thing, there’s some things we’d rather not discover so we fill the spaces with ‘stuff’.

In Vanuatu they have a saying, ‘stap nomo’. It purely means, ‘stop and that’s it’ or ‘I’m just being’. It’s a phrase I appreciate and have to continue to revisit and integrate into my vocabulary and being.

Jesus, as busy as he was with his ministry, still found time for the spaces. We read of Jesus being swamped with people, the needs so great, countless healings and casting out of demons. The mission to bring about the Kingdom of God was so huge, yet Jesus found time to duck away to a solitary place and find some space. Sometimes he even took his disciples with him, to encounter the space, to learn what it means to be renewed and replenished for the amazing task of ministry they had all being called to.

Our spaces are sacred and they have become so desperately endangered. Reclaim the spaces in your life, rediscover who you are as a child of God. It will be the most enriching use of your time you’ll ever experience. Don’t be afraid to claim a space.

Shalom
Mark