Tight Spots and Wide Open Spaces

 

“You… knew the anguish [straits] of my soul. You… have set my feet in a spacious place.”

—Psalm 31:7-8

If you’re like me, on occasion you’ve been in tight spots in your life.

I remember a day before cell phones when I sat in the middle of an intersection in rush hour traffic on my way to the garage with my horn blaring (out of my control) and the car refusing to start. Drivers behind me impatiently honked. When the police came, they pushed my broken down vehicle to the side of the street where I waited for help.

I remember other times, in that same car, with windows open, driving in the summer breezes through the countryside admiring the wide-open spaces, enjoying every moment of the ride.

God can put any of us in a tight spot when He sees we need the discipline, or the lesson to build our faith, that such a spot will teach us. Some tight spots keep us confined for a very long time and we begin to feel forgotten, like I did in traffic that long-ago day.

In those times, God seems far away, but He still hears us when we cry to Him. Psalm 18:6, 19 uses that same word that means “strait”:

In my distress [strait], I called to the Lord, I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears…He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Imagine God of the Universe delighting in us, waiting for our cry for help, and arranging a rescue for us.

God’s rescue may not come as soon as we’d like, like the wait we sometimes have for the towing service to show up on the scene. But, if we trust Him, we know He will come to us at the best possible time with our best possible interests in mind.

The Israelites felt as though they had stayed in the straits of Egypt far too long, but we know God had a great plan to rescue His people there. Deuteronomy 6:21-24 sums it up:

We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand… He brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive.

God always has our best in mind, even when we seem to live in the “straits.” When we find ourselves in the “straits,” we must learn to trust Him to come to our rescue in due time. And, we must not forget to praise Him for His kindness and generosity in providing everything we need!