I recently went away on my college’s end of year retreat. One of the passages that we were reflecting on was Psalm 18:19 - He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. As I thought about what it meant to be brought into a spacious place, I went to a place which has become very dear to me over the past retreats. A hidden place, hard to get to, nestled in the trees and beside a noisy waterfall. A place where no-one could hear me, and no-one could see me. Somewhere I felt very safe. It felt incongruous to be reflecting upon such words in such a place as this. I felt so safe here, away from the world, that the idea being brought into a spacious place felt uncomfortable, unsafe even.
Still, being unsettled by the dissonance between what God wanted to show me and where I wanted to be, I decided to walk a little. As I crossed the bridge, I stopped to drop a stick into the river and watch it pop out the other side. As I did, I noticed a tiny little bird deep inside a bush – a wren. I stopped and watched it. Slowly it moved from deep inside the bush to its edge, and finally to the very edge of its furthest branch. And then it began to sing. It sang a beautiful and surprising loud song for such a little bird. I began to think about my safe space and the wrens safe place deep in the bush. What made it safe was that no-one could hear or see me. But if I spent my entire life in such spaces then I would never be able to share what God had given to me with the world; my skills, thoughts, gifts, experiences, they would all remain mine alone, unable to bless or help anyone else.
I carried on walking and came to the stretch of river opposite my little safe space. It was more open on this side of the river. As I began to look, I started to see my little safe spot in a whole new light, I started to see things that I’d never seen before. Just 20 feet above that spot there was a house! And a little up the river, there was a beautiful little shore next to the top of the waterfall. All these things that I had missed because I remained hidden away. And I realised, that when I hide away, I not only prevent the world from seeing what I have to give, but I prevent myself from seeing what the world has to share with me.
There are times when we need to shelter in a safe place, and God loves to shelter us from the storm underneath His wings. But He also wants to lead us to spacious places where we can be free! Where we can be brave to be ourselves. So often we can hide away from saying something we want to, or offering help, or suggesting a new idea, because we’re worried that people will think it’s silly, or someone else can do it better, or someone won’t like us because of it. But that’s not what God wants for us. He wants us to be brave enough to share what God has given us, and loving enough to receive what others have to share with us too. When we do that, who knows what new things He’ll show us!
Originally written for the July 2024 ABC Newsletter
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