Have you made room for God in every area of your life?
Psalm 10:4
“Room for God…” or, in this case, “No room for God.” The most obvious connection seems to be that particular inn in Bethlehem which, on a certain night had, “no room” for a young pregnant woman who had previously made room for God, and was consequently near her time.
But an even closer connection is found in Jesus’ own statement to his adversaries in John 8:3, ”You are ready to kill me because you have no room for my word.” In my understanding, Psalm 10:4 and John 8:37 are completely connected. The idea of both is that the evil man arranges his own world in such a way that God has no place. Perhaps behind these statements is the idea that God must be made room for in the heart of man, and that God and his word are inherently disruptive to the natural order of thoughts, feelings, decisions, and events of a human life. When God enters the heart, he changes things: challenging ideas, convicting wrong actions, speaking forcefully on uncomfortable topics, requiring sacrifice. Henry Blackaby (in Experiencing God) says that, when God speaks to us, we must make adjustments to our lives in order to follow God and join him in his work. To make such adjustments is usually difficult, sometimes heart-wrenching.
“God and His Word are inherently disruptive to the natural order of thoughts, feelings, decisions, and events of a human life. When God enters the heart, He changes things: challenging ideas, convicting wrong actions, speaking forcefully on uncomfortable topics, requiring sacrifice.”
For the pagan described in Psalm 10:4, none of this is even an issue. He may have a vague sense that, if he makes room for God, his life will change radically – in ways he doesn’t welcome at all. But more than all that, it seems in all his thoughts he doesn’t even think about God. In the stream of ideas and inner conversations that flow through his brain in one day, the concept of a Creator/Judge/Savior doesn’t even float by, never mind take hold. He has “no room for God.” Someday, God will have no room for him!
A Christian, however, needs to come at this matter differently. A Christian must ask himself or herself constantly, “Have I made room for God” (with respect to any area of his/her life). Before making a final decision about anything – the taking of a spouse, the change of a job, the purchase of a new car, even the way to spend a free afternoon – before all the moments of life, the Christian must make room for God to speak, to disrupt, to convict, to CHANGE things… this is intrinsic to His Lordship. And Christ is most honored when we constantly and freely invite him to decide the issues of our lives, when we say, “What is your will on this, Lord?” and wait quietly for the answer. To make room for the Lord Jesus Christ is to love him with all trusting faith that what he directs is best, no matter how much rearranging we must do in order to carry it out.
