Embracing Spaciousness — The Spacious Place

The Instagram algorithm likes to show me Goldendoodles, Bible verses inscribed over watercolor landscapes, boutique hotels in exotic locations, and coastal decor. I have no complaint with any of those things. But sometimes the algorithm gives you a real gem. Today I discovered the Japanese word “Yutori.”

Yutori: The conscious act of slowing down to allow us to savor the world around us. The refusal to rush. No talking. Just absorbing the world around us with no goal except to see. Spaciousness.

Given that this site is called The Spacious Place, I immediately zeroed in on that last word. Spaciousness. It is a word that means a lot to me. (Why 'The Spacious Place?') In the darkest period of my life, God showed me what it means to experience spaciousness. He gave me a promise that even in the midst of chronic illness and crippling anxiety, he was leading me into a spacious place.

It took years of surrender and healing, but God fulfilled his promise, and today I am not the person I once was. I am grateful for God’s patient love, his faithfulness, and his guidance. Even so, I still have days when it’s hard to hear him—days when I know I’m not connected to him the way I want to be.

No one is promised a life free from struggle, but frustration, sorrow, confusion, and pain can still sometimes take us by surprise. Even after experiencing God’s loving-kindness, or spending a season delighting in his spaciousness, we can wonder what we’re doing wrong when we suddenly find ourselves plunged back into the valley of despair. We may begin to believe we took a wrong turn and ended up back at the beginning.

First, let me be clear. If you find yourself in this place, God isn’t judging you or punishing you. He isn’t giving you hardships or withdrawing his comfort because he’s mad at you. Every single Christian, no matter how faithful, walks through hardships. There is no shame in acknowledging when things are hard. We don’t have to paint a rosy picture of everything in our life to show how good God is. That’s actually dishonest. We should never make the mistake of believing his goodness is dependent upon our temporal contentment.

So let me get back to that lovely word yutori. It involves a “refusal to rush” in order to “savor the world around us.” I love that! My friend, writer Nicole Zasowski, has a lot to say about savoring. She calls it a practice of “celebrating the ordinary” and “asking your five traditional senses what they are going to remember about a moment.” How often do we actually do that? When we rush from one moment to the next with our head stuck either in the past or the future, we miss what God has for us right now.

Recently, I spent a week in the mountains with no cell service and no WiFi. I can’t tell you what a blessing that was. For two of those days, until my husband joined me, I was alone in my cabin. Aside from the sound of the rushing river nearby, I was surrounded by silence. Being alone hadn’t been part of the plan, but God met me in that space as I journaled and read. I began to tune into his gentle whisper again. As I slowed down, God reminded me of his tenderness and love.

Are you hungry for more of God’s love? Are you longing to experience a greater measure of his comfort?

Here are a few practical steps to help you rest in God’s presence. This is not a formula. It is simply a list of steps that I find helpful. Feel free to change the order or add your own helpful practices.

Settle yourself into a place where you can be still.

Take a few deep breaths.

Thank God for his love for you.

Become aware of the space around you.

Check in with your five natural senses.

Identify what you are experiencing externally and internally.

Surrender any burdens or heaviness into God’s loving hands.

Ask God to reveal more of himself to you.

Listen and receive what he has for you in this moment.

I pray these simple steps bless you today!

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