A spacious place. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I love the sound of it.

What pictures come to mind when you hear the word spacious? I’m thinking of a wide place. Abundance. Sunshine. Joy. A place where we enjoy God’s favor.

When the Lord first appeared to Moses in that flaming bush, calling him to an amazing mission—leading the Israelite people out of bondage in Egypt—he used this word to describe the land he intended to give them: “a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). The Amplified Bible uses the word large.

Nehemiah called this a “spacious and fertile land” (Nehemiah 9:35).

David personalized the thought, including these words in a song he sang to the Lord after being delivered from Saul: “He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me” (2 Samuel 22:20).  Psalm 18:19 repeats this.

In Psalm 31:7-8 David said, “I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my afflictions and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.”

I’m happy to tell you I’ve spent time in that sweet place. Drenched in blessing. Bathed in the sunshine of God’s love. Oh, to live there continually! But that place is a gateway to other paths. Paths the Lord designs…offering opportunity to dispense the blessings stored up in my spacious place…to tell others how to find it and assure them their present hard place is temporary.

The spacious place is like R&R for the military. A place to rest, recoup, and refresh before returning to battle.

The spacious place is like R&R for the military. A place to rest, recoup, and refresh before returning to battle. Click To Tweet

I don’t like it, but the Christian life involves warfare. We have an enemy who intends to destroy us. Our Commander-in-Chief will not let that happen. However, he may lead us into intense combat that tests our commitment and endurance.

A battle-weary friend observed that in spiritual warfare, “We don’t get a chance to call time-out.”

A battle-weary friend observed that in spiritual warfare, “We don’t get a chance to call time-out. Click To Tweet

David didn’t remain in his spacious place. He faced other challenges…sometimes overwhelming circumstances. But he was not forsaken.

Are you basking in sunshine in a spacious place or slugging it out with the enemy in the trenches?

Know that God is with you. And he will use every experience for his maximum glory. Believing this opens the darkest sky for a sliver of sunshine to escape.

When the Lord leads you back to a spacious place to rest, recoup, and refresh, store up the blessings so that you can return to battle declaring his praise!

© Dianne Barker 2020

Scriptures from NIV unless noted.