Finding Open Spaces

Welcome to today's encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional. I'm Tom Felton and I titled our reading, Finding Open Spaces. In his book, Margin, Dr. Richard Swanson writes, We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity.

Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn't he lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide open spaces of the past and how can we get them back? Swanson says we need some quiet, fertile land in life where we can rest in God and meet with him.

Does that resonate? Seeking open spaces is something Moses lived out well. Leading a nation of stubborn and rebellious people, he often withdrew to find rest and guidance in God's presence. And in his tent of meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. Jesus also often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Both he and Moses realized the importance of spending time alone with the Father. We too need to build margin into our lives. Some wide and open spaces spent in rest and in God's presence. Spending time with him will help us make better decisions, creating healthier margins and boundaries in our life.

So we have the bandwidth available to love him and others well. Let's see God in open spaces today. Today is Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Exodus chapter 33 verses one through four and seven through 11. Then the Lord said to Moses, Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants. I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go with you because you are a stiff necked people and I might destroy you on the way.

When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. Picking up at verse seven, Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrance to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend.

Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide, Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent. Let's pray. Jesus, help us to seek quiet moments with you each day. May we leave some margin in our lives so we can serve you and others better. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.