Have you ever heard a song that immediately triggers the water works? The same song that you want to immediately turn off because you don’t “want to go there”? Yes. That one. That song for me is Jonathan McReynolds’ “Make Room.” The first verse and chorus say:
I find space for what I treasure,
I make time for what I want,
I choose my priorities,
And, Jesus, You’re my number one.
So, I will make room for You.
Every time I hear this song, I feel a mix of beauty, grace, and conviction flood in. It seriously does something to me. It makes me question my motives and the intent of my heart. What am I making room for? Is it Jesus, or is it something else I’ve allowed to take precedence? A few months ago, this song hit me in the feels a bit more than normal when my pastor preached an incredible message titled “Make Room for a Miracle.” The premise challenged us to make room for the miracle we are expecting from God through a life of obedience, faith, trust, and discipline.
Make Room for a Miracle in Daily Spiritual Disciplines
How can God do what we are expecting—and desperately needing—Him to do in our lives if He doesn’t have the permission or access to our lives and hearts to do so? As I studied the Word, I realized every miracle I encountered in Scripture required people to make room for said miracle by taking specific action.
As I studied the Word, I realized every miracle I encountered in Scripture required people to make room for said miracle by taking specific action. Click To TweetFrom Moses at the edge of the Red Sea, to the woman with the issue of blood—some step of faith, some form of sacrifice, was required before the miracle manifested. Don’t get me wrong; miracles don’t come because we do things. Miracles come because we have chosen to do things that honor God with our lives and take steps in the direction He’s called. In essence, we choose to make room for Him, thus making room for our miracle.
I had to ask myself a tough question: Was I making room for the miracle I needed from God? Honestly, no. I made some tough decisions and life adjustments. As a result, God gave me clarity and peace. The miracle that followed was more than I expected but exactly what I needed.
Are you making room for your miracle? I challenge you to do so! Make room for a miracle in your daily spiritual disciplines. Nothing brings God more pleasure than having time with you! He desires to know what’s on your mind and in your heart. He desires to share His heart with you through His Word. He desires to provide peace to you as you practice the spiritual discipline of rest. Read Matthew 6:33. When you make room for Him, you do not have to worry about your needs being met.
Make Room for a Miracle with Your Actions
Read James 2:17. Faith is your personal, intimate, knowledge of the person, identity, and plan of God that enables you to discern what He intends to do so that you can act in harmony with Him. Are your behaviors and actions harmonious? Your faith should cause you to act like God is who He said He’d be to you.
Make Room for a Miracle with Your Words
This is a tough one. Read Proverbs 18:21. You reap the fruit of your words. What are you speaking? Is it negativity and doubt? Are you talking down about yourself? Or are you speaking the truth—the truth found in God’s Word? Note, I didn’t say positivity.
Positivity is an attitude; truth is a fact. It’s foundational. Truth trumps and outlasts positivity any day. The bones in the valley (Ezekiel 37) may look dead, but you, through the power of His Spirit, can speak life into them. Make room for your miracle!
(A version of this article was published in Reflections.)
Resources and Links
Faith Fills an Empty Basket: Miracles from the Mission Field – Faith Fills an Empty Basket follows the funds committed to God’s work through UPCI Global Missions. Many of the missionaries featured in this book were asked, “What are some ‘only God could have done that’ things that have happened in your ministry?” Their answers will build your faith and fill your heart with thankfulness for the miracles of God at home and abroad.
Miracle: The Missionary Life of Don and Saundra Hanscom – Miracle was the obvious title for this book. The miraculous had already been an astounding prelude to the amazing personal miracle Don and Sandra Hanscom experienced at the beginning of their life and ministry in Pakistan. Their wondrous personal miracle is told in the opening chapters of this book, but the miraculous dimension of their ministry would continue in the years that followed. That a major, Apostolic revival of the Book of Acts proportions could take place inside a nation nearly 98 percent Muslim has itself been an ongoing miracle. This story is a confirmation of a pattern intended for the 21st century church: “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following, Amen” (Mark 16:20).