Are you willing to get close?
Let’s talk about personal space. You know, the place where for some of us, when another person takes over that space, you get antsy, maybe annoyed, and maybe even a little apprehensive and stressed. Personal space is actually completely a man made concept, because when it comes to God, there is NO personal space. If the Holy Spirit lives within me, then I really have no personal space, and to be honest, for that I’m very grateful.
But for myself, personal space is an indicator of how safe I feel around someone. Words don’t equate vulnerability in my life, space does. Ask my Dad, he’s named it my “bubble”.
But how willing are we to get close to the things that scare us the most?
Like people.
Like places.
Like hearts.
How willing are we to get close to those who we deem “lowly”?
Like the beggar on the street, or the drunkard yelling on the corner, or the woman that clearly spent the night in another person’s home.. most likely not out of her own will.
Are we willing to get close enough to give someone a bottle of water?
Because in order to hand someone a bottle of water, I personally have to get within a few feet of them, close enough to see their face. And often times, even closer, because strangers aren’t always that willing to reach out and grab a free bottle of water from a white girl wandering around the streets of China.. it’s an odd concept.
Sometimes we don’t know what God has for us until we get close.
Last month, I spent a few weeks in China, doing ATL ministry (more to come on the significance of ATL later) alongside one of our W Squad World Race Teams, Agape.
One of our teammates heard the Lord pointing out that we should hand out water bottles throughout the day to our friends we saw the few days before on the streets, so we headed to the storE. (yes, capital E) We continued to walk towards the center of town, praying and laughing, saying our hello’s to all who walked past us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a woman in a green coat that would not leave my mind. I continued to think about her as I walked away, and thought to myself “I thought we were called to be handing these out to beggars on the corners and such”. But the green jacket Nicole. The green jacket.
I turned around, got within arm’s length distance of the woman and noticed what I could not have noticed from a distance. Her look, her smile, it was nothing like I anticipated. The jacket was worn, and in her eyes she looked lost. She could not make out very many words because of the condition of her mouth. From a distance I judged, I said “but no, she’s not of the lowly”. But who am I to make that decision? And what is the criteria for that decision anyways? Then the conviction came, “aren’t all of who don’t know me yet the lowly?, the ones who don’t know of the glory of my kingdom?”
You are not called to make that decision. You are called to walk in obedience.
Are we willing to get close to one another? Are we willing to get close to God?
Close enough to see the details on our faces? Close enough to see the brokenness, the beauty, without making judgements from a distance? How will we know if we don’t get close? How will we know what God our Father has for us, and the image we were made in, if we don’t get close? Are we willing to forsake someone else’s space, to go against the grain of modern culture, to look them in the eyes without hesitation, and not only give them a bottle of water, but pray over them and ask for the living water of Christ to wash over them? Are we willing to let one another into those broken places? Are we willing to let God into those broken places? To let Him into the deepest corners of our lives that are scary even to our own souls?
Am I willing to step out of my own space of comfort, and into the space of the Father? And into the spaces of His children, because all of those who don’t know Him need to, and right now I’m here to be a messenger. So grab a bottle of water, or even a cup of coffee, and get in someone’s personal space. Especially God’s. He wants you there.
love, Nicole Amy
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