Do you want a life filled with more power and joy? Do you want a more Spirit-filled life? In order for Spirit to fill our lives we have to create space in our heart. Our heart is filled with many emotions, some of which we deny and some of which we are unaware of. Creating space in our hearts is about being honest and respectful of what we find there.Many of us spend the majority of our lives running from the emotions we find in our hearts. We have learned to deny our feelings or to be judgmental of the ones we find. This process pretty much keeps us busy fulltime—denying, judging, resisting what is in our hearts. It leaves very little room for the Spirit to live there. The same challenges exist in allowing Spirit into our minds. We are filled with pre-conceived thoughts about life, about God, and about how to spend our time.
It is tempting to want to clear everything out of our hearts and minds before we invite the Spirit in. We want to clean up our act and sort of tidy things up first so that God won’t see what a mess we’ve made of things. This is not what I mean by making space for the Spirit in our lives.
To create space—or create sacred space—is about committing to two things in our lives. The first is to create an intention of honesty with ourselves and with God. We agree to be honest with our emotions and thoughts and not be judgmental about them. If I am feeling hateful and resentful, I agree to call these emotions by their right names and acknowledge them, not lie, misname or place a judgment on them. I agree to be a true witness in my own life about what I feel and think.
The second thing is setting aside time in my life to participate in Spirit invoking activities such as reading sacred texts, spending time in prayer and in meditation, walking in nature, and reaching out in service to others. All of these activities, when combined with an openness of our hearts and minds are conducive to creating space for the Spirit to live and work in our lives.
Honesty with our self and with God and actual time spent seeking God create the opening necessary for Spirit to work in our lives. When we have an open honest communication with ourselves and when we invite Spirit to participate in this and to assist us, we have embarked on walking the path of a Spirit-filled life or the path of gnosis. If you leave either component out—honesty and openness—or the Spirit’s presence and power—you will struggle in your walk. It is a dance with the Divine. Our part is to create time and space for the Spirit to dance with us.
We can spend years struggling to feel close to God, wrestling with our problems and addictions, and wondering why the supposed joy of the Christian walk is so evasive. It usually takes us many years of wandering around before we realize that God’s love is so inclusive and understanding that we don’t have to clean up our lives before we come to God just like we are. God is waiting for us to realize that we are who we are and the Spirit is the only one with the creative power to make us come alive.
It also takes us years to realize that in order to experience power in our lives we have to stay connected to the Source of power. Just like we have to eat two or three times a day in order to function and have any energy, we have to feed our soul and spirit every day. It is just as essential to eat spiritual food, as it is to eat physical food. Without it we will be weak and ineffective.
The Spirit wants to be a vital part of our lives 24 hours a day. We can live lives that our filled with the power of the Spirit if we will commit to creating space in our hearts, minds, and souls for the Spirit to dwell. It is a matter of making honest choices about whom we want occupying our hearts and minds. How much space do you have in your life for Spirit?