Transformed Space

Author~Katie Taylor

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19)

A wise friend once told me it’s impossible to entertain two captivating thoughts at the same time. There are messages that come into our minds all day. There is God’s truth, and there’s what the world says. And the thoughts that captive us direct us. I believe we are often challenged in that room at the very center of our hearts and minds to make a choice. Because there isn’t room to believe what the world says and what God says.

Our home has a room in the very center. This room directs the traffic flow. You must pass through it to get to all other places. You can see it from every other room. We have used it as our dining room. With a beautiful dining room table and a china cabinet full of fragile, lovely things. Dining rooms are meant for families to gather around a table and enjoy one another, which is a beautiful thing. In a small house with toddlers, ours became the opposite of family fellowship. It became the “no touch zone” that made mommy anxious and the kids feel like they were always touching the wrong things.

This tension culminated on a day when a five-year-old boy from church came over to play. He exuded the amazing, beautiful energy of a boy his age and found a riding car that usually lives outside. There was no room to ride it in the house so he circled the dining room table and crashed into it several times. Did I show him the love of Christ in that moment? No. Did I feel joy while this precious child was in my home? No. Did I see him as Jesus did? No. I missed all of this for the table.

The tragedy is that this little boy was killed in a car accident a few weeks later. I never saw him again. I was never able to touch his face or tell him how precious he was. My heart shattered into a million pieces when I heard the news as I sat in front of my dining room table. I missed the moment with that child that I will never get back because I valued the wrong thing. My heart was deeply sorry and challenged. What is important in this fleeting life? What is worth protecting and valuing? And how many precious moments do I miss in my own home?

I told my husband I wanted to get rid of the dining room table. “So do it,” he said casually. “Give it away.” What? Give it away? What a crazy thought! Wait a minute…we could actually do that? What a freeing thought! But, letting go of that table meant letting go of something I was holding onto dearly … Someday. Someday I’ll have a bigger home like the one I grew up in and there will be a dining room tucked away for special occasions. Someday in the next house we’ll need it. The someday in my mind has always held a nice dining room and one I wasn’t sure I could part with.

Someday I’ll have more time. What about today? Someday, we’ll have enough to give more away. What about what we have now? Someday I’ll lay down everything and really follow Jesus. “At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:20) Someday when I do this, God will love me more. He says He loves me even as He loves Jesus, His beloved Son, right now.

Someday says “it is coming.” Jesus says “it is finished.” We don’t need anything in the future that He hasn’t made available to us right now by the finished work of the cross. I think He wants me to let go of “my life will be more full when…” and say “thanks for making my life completely full now.” To believe Colossians 2:10 that “in Christ, you have been brought to fullness.”

I don’t think anyone actually arrives at someday, for more than a little while. There’s always the next thing. In Him, we have true rest and satisfaction. Jesus is not barely enough. He is more than enough!

And what if someday’s table could be someone’s today? Our table is now being used for God’s glory in a local ministry’s community center where women use it to enjoy fellowship, God’s word and a meal. I share this, not to boast in any way…this is so tiny on the scale of how we could leverage our resources for the Kingdom, and we can never earn more favor with God than we already have in Christ. The desire is to boast in the Lord and share how Jesus has touched our hearts and opened our eyes to what’s right in front of us.

And now, what’s right in front of us in that room in the center is colorful bean bag chairs, a white board for drawing and teaching, kids art, handprints, Scripture cards, open space, children running, riding cars, singing songs, and laughing with freedom to be messy and love big.

Jesus says “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:34) And there’s a great freedom in letting him be the bread of life, in making him the feast, in letting go of someday and grabbing onto this moment, in trusting that He who has provided today will also provide tomorrow, in knowing that we are beyond blessed so we can freely give and overflow, in realizing what we need to live the life He has called us to and what we can let go of to make room for Him to be the center today. And when we let go of the pretty things of this world and grab onto His beauty, His words, and His way with both hands, there is true joy and abundant life!

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Prayer

Thank you Lord for Your glorious truth. I pray Your words captivate the center of our hearts, lives and homes. Thank you for what you have already done through the finished work of the cross, and for the abundant life you have provided in your Son, Jesus Christ. May we be fully satisfied in You, may we not miss moments to love one another deeply in our short time here and may we transform our hearts and minds to dwell on Kingdom treasure.

Reflection questions:

What are the captivating thoughts in your life today? Are they in agreement with God’s word?

Are you working toward/holding out for a “someday…..”? What does it look like to transform those thoughts into thanks for what God has already provided?

Treasure Hunt

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.” (Matthew 6:34)

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for all us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Faith in Action:

The book of Jonah says that “those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs” (Jonah 2:8). Ask God to show you if there are any worthless idols you are clinging to right now and what is looks like to break free of them in order to make room for His grace to captivate the center of your heart, mind and life.

Katie Taylor~Contributor

Tags: faith, Huntsville, Katie Taylor, Our City On A Hill