A spacious place

Photographed by Garrett Randolph

“He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”

-Psalm 18:19

When I read this scripture for what seemed like the first time, I remember feeling like I was being delivered from suffocation. As the Father spoke “spacious place” over me, I pictured a woman who has been confined by oppression, restricted by internal turmoil, and stiffened by fear of movement— being lifted out of a cage in her sleep. When she awoke, she felt the soft grass underneath her and opened her eyes to a quiet, cool garden with a brook of slow moving water beside her. As she stood, the joints of her body were able to move and bear weight as they are designed. She was able to lift her head and feel the flecks of the sun on her skin as the tree leaves swayed back and forth. A tear of relief rolled down her cheek as her guarded heart was showered by peace and safety. Although she appeared to be alone, she was not. The very air she breathed was the Presence of God and she could hear His voice with every breath she inhaled. The more she moved, danced, and ran, the deeper her breathing became. The deeper her breathing became, the more filled with life she became. This is the rest of God He has invited us into.

Sometimes we are nervous that spacious means void, so we settle for being surrounded by confinement, oppression, and fear. But inside the heart of the Father, spaciousness is actually FULLNESS! Fullness of freedom. We get to live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28) out of the abundance of Jesus’ eternal and unconditional Love.

The Word of God tells us that this invitation from the Lord into rescue and rest is compelled by His Delight. What Love is this?! What a Father we have! What a God we abide in! It is beyond my understanding, how our Father moves into our world and heart, driven by DELIGHT. All there is for us to do is surrender and receive. As we break agreement with the lies that say we were destined to be confined by fear, shame, and the bondage of darkness, we learn to agree with the truth that we were created by the Living God for freedom in His care, movement in His Spirit, and wholeness in His Love. If you are feeling confined, like the caves and rocks David so often found himself hiding in for fear of his life, meditate upon the truth of God’s Love for you. Allow His delight over you to carry you into the REALITY of His spacious place that is your forever home.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

-2 Corinthians 3:17