Space is an odd thing. In the brief time between when my soon-to-be-ex announced he wanted a divorce and I moved out, I wrote: “Space. Sometimes I feel smothered and in desperate need of space. Sometimes there is so much space, and I feel smothered by it.”

Space – the presence or lack of it – can feel smothering. But it also brings comfort as we find peace in it. Space invites truth and hope into our lives. It can also invite a lot of other things into our lives. Just opening the door to space isn’t good. An open heart and mind can just as easily invite negative influences and experiences as positive. Yet keeping our minds and hearts closed keeps it all out.

Space requires a filter. Without a filter, space can smother us in more ways than one. With a filter, space provides for us. God gives us freedom, conviction, accountability, discipline, truth, and hope in and through space. But it is only when we trust God to provide and use the space that we can move forward into and through it.