We hear these words often around Christmas time. The encouragement to “make Him room”. To make room for Jesus in our hearts, our schedules, and our thoughts. While many are intentional about this during the months of November and December, I think we often forget what it’s like to make Him room in the midst of regularly scheduled events. We forget what it looks like to make room in between work commitments and family commitments. We forget to make room in between appointments, and practices, meetings, and meals. We forget. And when we forget, there’s often not room left to give.
So let’s make Him room. Let’s prepare a space for Jesus in our days. Let’s turn our morning commute into a time of meditation and prayer. Let’s turn the time we are sitting in the carpool line to a time of quiet conversation with Him. Let’s make time for Him in our mornings through opening His word and reflecting on who the bible says He is. Let’s ask him to meet us right where we are. In this small moments. Let us pray “Meet me here. Right where I am. In this moment. I need you.”
My word of this 2020 year is “empty”. My prayer for the year has been that I want to be so empty that the most holy thing can grow in me.
Last night I listened to a visiting pastor speak at church. His name is Jimmy Rollins and you can check out his full message here.
Jimmy gave life to the story of the widow’s olive oil in 2 Kings 4:1-7. The quick version of the story is that a woman’s husband dies which means she no longer has an income. In order to pay her husbands debts, she asks the prophet Elisha for help. He tells her to get empty containers from people nearby and fill them up with what all she has left, which is just a little bit of olive oil. She did what he asks. She and her sons fill the containers to the brim with what started as only the little bit of oil.. She was obedient, and not only did the oil fill all of the empty containers, but they had enough to sell some and live off of the overflow.
Sometimes we feel like we are in a state of emptiness. That we have nothing. We are grieving the loss of a loved one, having a hard time navigating relationships, or find that there are bills due and no money to pay them. We look around and think we have nothing. That all we have left in life is God. Turns out, God is all we need. He will provide. He asks us to be obedient to his instruction (like going to the neighbors to get empty vessels), and then he begins to fill.
When we are empty, we are in the exact place God wants us to be. God uses our emptiness to redirect our own hearts and the hearts of others back to him. When we are empty, we go to God first to help us. We don’t rely on ourselves, but on Him. The opposite tends to be true when we see ourselves as full. We so often rely on ourselves rather than on him. We rely on our own grit rather than on God.
God needs our emptiness. He wants us to seek him first, not as a backup plan. When are listen to his instruction and prepare to be filled, God will provide and his provision is all we need.
Let’s commit to emptying ourselves. To empty our schedules, our thoughts, and our hearts in order to make him room. Let’s pray that he meets us in the moments of our every day. And let’s ask him to help us continue to empty so that the most holy thing can continue to grow in us.
Amen.