Tuesday, April 05, 2011

A place of freedom and growth.

I'm currently reading the book of Psalms. Today I read #18, a Psalm of David written after God rescued him from Saul and from his enemies.

As I was reading, I came across something strange in verse 19.

"He (God) brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me."

For some reason (That reason being the nudging of the Holy Spirit) I couldn't get my mind off the first part of that verse. A broad place. 
I continued reading, thinking nothing of it at first. But I had to come back to it, because I couldn't shake it.
A broad place. What is that supposed to even mean?
My dad happened to be close by while I was reading, and so I asked him what he thought about the verse.
He let out this big sigh of contentment when I read the verse to him. As if to say, Oh that's a good one. And I said, what to you understand from this verse?
He said that a broad place to him represented freedom and room to grow.

And from that, the thoughts just started to flow.

A broad place is a place of safety. I picture a large open field somewhere in the country. The sun is shining, the sky is blue. And its quiet. Quiet enough for just you and God. Quiet enough to hear his voice. In a field, there is no restriction. No daily responsibility that keeps you from Him. There is possibility for new things. There's not one direction in which you could move forward, but several.

In the verse before that it says that the LORD is his support. So before God brought David out into a broad place, a place of freedom and growth. God was already supporting him. And from that place of trust, God brought him into a place that requires David to trust him even more to bring something AMAZING into his life.

I can't believe I got all this from one line in a Psalm. I could go on.
All I'm saying is that the idea of God bringing me to a broad place really resonates with my heart.
Especially in a time where the summer is uncertain.
He's just telling me to relax a little bit.

He loves me. I love Him. Isn't it wonderful.

K

1 comment:

Luke Anthony said...

I was thinking of something very similar, at least your definition of the physical nature of the "broad place", at about the same time. Cool.

Henceforth I think "broad place" has become my standard replacement for (and addition to) the old "free, open place".