Holding Space
Amy Dawson / Student Ministries Administrative Assistant
When we are devoted to God working in our lives, to joining with Him in doing our healing work, this brings joy in knowing we have engaged with Him and are working for His good, in His purposes. This is our responsibility, to care for ourselves.
Will I hear Him? Will I know His voice and His leading? Have I done my personal work so that I am undistracted? Will I care for the parts of myself that need attention so I can sit in peace and tend to those around me?
"Let everyone be devoted to fulfill the work God has given them to do with excellence, and their joy will be in doing what is right and being themselves and not in being affirmed by others. Every believer is responsible for his or her own conscience."
Galatians 6:4-5
I was introduced to the idea of “holding space” by women on a weekend and God used it to transform my life. In my mind’s eye, holding space is holding the door open for another, it is anticipating their movement into a new space. Holding space protects, it invites, it welcomes. Holding space involves hope and most definitely occupies the presence of God. Holding space is hospitality in a truly intimate form.
I am an independent person, so when I encountered others that invited me in, that had reserved space for me and wanted me to express myself, to hear my story, give my emotions a voice, it was life changing. I have a few questions for you:
How do you hold space for others? What does it look like?
How do you choose who you hold space for?
How do you go about discerning the appropriate amount of space to hold for someone?
How do you allow God to love you?
We know that God loves us, and He does so every moment without our permission, but in what ways do you allow God to love you?
I was recently faced with this last question, and it required some soul searching. When you look at the most comfortable places in your life, do you find clues there? Or maybe it is more in the challenging spaces that help you answer how you allow God to love you. When you look at your needs, do you see clues of how you could give God permission to love you in new ways?
There is a space between allowing God to love me and holding space for others, it is where I find peace in God’s presence. It is a place of knowing who God made me to be and knowing who God is. Finding peace in God’s presence is the space of delighting in who God made you to be and enjoying who He is simultaneously.
One of the spaces I find this peace in is when I host people in my home, feeding them, and conversing. My favorite part is when my friends arrive, and we get to be together. It’s in connecting that my cup overflows. There are many kinds of gatherings of people, some formal, some informal, large or small, and the atmosphere I create reflects those I anticipate coming to the table. When I hold space for others, I invite them into this intimate place with the Lord … I set the table, choose the tablecloth, light the candles, choose the drinks, the music.
Creating the atmosphere, holding the space, is what we get to do in these next weeks. Ultimately my desire is to fill my table, my peaceful place with Jesus, with as many people as possible. I want others to know of His peace, His provision, His grace, all the greatness and the depth of His glory. I want others to experience what I know to be true of my Jesus and the great gifts He has given to me. If I’m at peace with God and myself, I am able to hold that door open with no agenda, trusting God to lead another and to work through me.
Especially as we look ahead to celebrating the arrival of our Savior, let us be intentional about holding space for Jesus.