A parking lot, as a gift, is one I hadn’t really thought of all too much before.  That large space can be incredibly useful, and not just for cars! Yesterday, as we gathered at our church, under a canopy of rain, changing our outdoor plans tremendously, the parking lot space became a great place for a socially distanced, hatch open, party!

Space and spacious were words that I kept celebrating yesterday.  The Lord, in his gracious timing, reminded me of his provision of a ‘spacious’ place that is ours through him.  Several times David, the writer of many Psalms, was caught in confined places – behind rocks and in caverns. During one of many experiences like this, after hiding from his many enemies and feeling even close to death, David writes in Psalm 18 “He (the Lord) brought me out into a spacious place” (v. 19). David was saved from his enemies. I am not a Hebrew scholar, but I have read that this experience of salvation means ‘yasha.’ It is defined as to be at ease in a spacious environment that is liberating – space and breath. We see here that David was brought into a physical space where he found freedom to breath with ease. 

What happens when we find ourselves behind a rock and this bringing out into a physical space of freedom is not our story? Can we know firsthand this idea of salvation, a place of spacious freedom?  My friend Cindy Lynne deals with chronic health issues.  Talk about living in a confined place – her ability to engage with most experiences of life is quite limited. The word salvation is often used to speak of a final destination – heaven – that open space of complete freedom.  It articulates the idea that we are saved by Jesus and can be assured of eternity.  This is true, but salvation, that wide open spacious place, that place to breath freely, encompasses so much more. Cindy’s speech, daily, tells the story of living in a spacious place where she is fully free. My friend would possibly say that salvation is living freely with Jesus today, knowing she belongs to him.  The spacious place is found in trusting his ways, enjoying his presence, following his voice and believing his promises, even in the struggle. Space to live, and breath, comes from knowing she is loved without measure by her God. Salvation means seeing the beauty of the kingdom of Jesus alive on earth today, noted, in the simplest of experiences. 

Somehow, I believe, when Isaiah said, “Surely the Lord is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid” (Isaiah 12:2) it meant he was living in the spacious freedom of company with his God, knowing he and the people he was called to serve belonged to God. He spoke of salvation to come, the hopes of a Messiah (Jesus who came), but for his people salvation also meant an experience of spacious freedom for today. 

I grew up with words that ask the question, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” The answer, I believe is marked with salvation. The answer is: “That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.”  In this truth we experience the space to breath freely.  (Thanks Dad, for the conversation about this yesterday! It pulled my thoughts together!)

The following is a short refrain, but it reminds us that the song of salvation is sung today, and it can be sung up until, and into, eternity.

555: We'll Sing In The Morning The Songs Of Salvation

We’ll sing in the morning the songs of salvation,
We'll sing in the noontide the songs of His love,
And when we arrive at the end of our journey
We'll sing the songs of Zion in the courts above.

Saving God, you have brought us into a spacious place, by your grace. You have opened to us the way of salvation through Jesus. Thank you.  Open our eyes to behold the dimensions of your salvation that our ours to live in and with. Grant us opportunity to share our present salvation story with others, so that they too might find a spacious place to breath freely.  AMEN

With care and in prayer,