Make Room

Not too long ago I spent some time in my girls’ playroom clearing out old toys to make room for the new items they would be receiving for Christmas. My daughters were not at all happy with me when they walked in and saw the large pile of items that would be donated. They couldn’t believe how mean their mom was! However, once they saw what awaited them on Christmas morning, they realized why I needed to make room. Their mourning turned to joy when they began to play songs on their new keyboard and turn flips on their new gymnastics equipment. They understood the purpose of shedding some of the old in order to make room for the new.

I recently heard a song called “Make Room” that stopped me in my tracks. It’s a simple prayer of commitment that I want to carry into the new year. Here are some of the lyrics:

I will make room for You To do whatever You want to To do whatever You want to

Here is where I lay it down Every burden, every crown This is my surrender This is my surrender Here is where I lay it down Every lie and every doubt This is my surrender

I will make room for You To do whatever You want to To do whatever You want to

While it may be a simple prayer of commitment to say or sing, it’s not necessarily an easy action to take. Making room for God to do what he wants to do involves removing things in our hearts that have become comfortable to us. It involves changing habits and thought patterns that have been a part of our routine for years. It involves surrendering the deepest parts of us.

Just like my daughters were not happy about saying goodbye to some of their possessions, we might not be happy about shedding some the things that need to go in order to make room for God to work. But also just like my daughters were filled with joy when they saw why it was necessary for certain things to be removed, we will be filled with joy when we see what God wants to do with us. So what does it mean to make room for him?

Make Room for Him Through the Reading and Study of Scripture

Time is limited, but we always make room for the things that are important or enjoyable to us. Trust me, we all have time to read and study the Bible. The question is: Are we making time for it? If Scripture is important to us, we will have no trouble making room in this area. Maybe it means picking a Bible reading plan for 2023. Maybe it means getting up a few minutes earlier each day. Maybe it means asking a friend to go through a devotional book with us. Maybe it means cutting back on watching television or scrolling social media so we can have structured time in the Word. Let’s do whatever it takes to make room for God in this area. It is time well spent that will not return void.

John Owen says, “The glory of Christ is the ‘pearl of great price’ which we should make every effort to find (Matt. 13:45, 46). And the Scripture is the ocean into which we dive to discover this pearl, or the mine in which we dig for its precious treasures (Prov. 2:1-5). Every sacred truth that reveals something of the glory of Christ to our souls, is a pearl or precious stone which enriches us.” Let’s dive into that ocean. Let’s dig into that mine. We must make room for the reading and study of Scripture every day.

Make Room for Him in Your Thoughts, Words, and Actions

We all have places to be, people to see, money to make, and lists to check. We are already committed to those things, but how can we make room for God in all of those areas? How can we more faithfully serve the Lord and allow him to use us and change us in what we are already doing? We need to ask for his wisdom as we plan our days, talk to others, and provide for our families. We need to be intentional about sharing Christ. We need to look up from our routines and see God’s purpose in whatever we are doing. If we don’t see his purpose in it, maybe it is something we shouldn’t be thinking, saying, or doing. Owen says, “It is sad…that many can find time to think much on earthly, foolish things, but have no heart, no desire to meditate on [the glory of Christ].” We must make room for him in our thoughts, words, and actions.

Make Room for Him in the Midst of Your Trials

Making room for God to work is not a magic wand to make everything better and easier. We won’t always have that “a-ha” moment of understanding exactly what God is doing in every circumstance. The Christian life is not a calling to prosperity and ease. It’s a call to die to ourselves and follow Christ. Some days are easy, but some days are downright hard. We have limitations and frustrations and disappointments in this life. We have certain thorns of the flesh, as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 12:7, that are meant to keep us humble. We have a battle to fight in terms of spiritual warfare. We must make room for God to work in the midst of our trials because he is working all things – not just the pleasant things – for our good (Romans 8:28).

Charles Spurgeon, known as one of the greatest and most influential preachers of all time, dealt with debilitating bouts of depression, but he made room for God even in his deepest struggles. He wanted his trials to go away, but he said God had 3 reasons for them: to keep him humble, to teach him to have sympathy for others, and to prepare him for larger blessings in ministry. Speaking of God’s sovereignty over his trials, Spurgeon said, “It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.” He firmly trusted in the “granite promise that he rules over my circumstances and means it for good no matter what anyone else means.” Making room for God in the midst of our trials means trusting in that “granite promise” of his sovereignty over our lives.

We can continue to make excuses, or we can make room. Let’s make room for him as we start this new year. Nothing else – nothing else – can truly satisfy us.