A wide place

I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought out your precepts (Psalm 119:45).

Walk in a wide place.

Suffering can constrict and squeeze us. Our problems seem to balloon to nightmarish, absurd size, and we can’t see the world past our internal churnings. We find ourselves crowded with worries, jealousies, anger and hurt. Not much else fits in that closed-in room. It’s hard to breathe.

Oh, to escape the narrowness, to be in the fresh air on the top of mountain for a glimpse of grand and glorious vistas.

In a wide place, you swing your arms, look around, breathe fresh air. You skip and run for joy. There’s room for delight, room to share that delight with others.

My sons and daughters on the edge of the wide atlantic

The way to that wide open space? God’s precepts. Really? Rules feel restrictive, not freeing. But God’s words usher us into the freedom and abundant life for which we long. They woo us out of our cramped spaces and open our lives to the grand and glorious.

The world will not tell us that seeking God’s precepts leads to walking about in a wide place. To pursue this freedom, we sometimes need to shut our ears to persistent voices that make counterfeit promises that happiness comes from centering our lives on self-indulgence, self-fulfuillment, self-esteem.

It’s true that seeking God’s precepts may feel at times like a hard trudge. Getting to that mountaintop is a lot of step-by-step work. Laying down control of our lives and trusting another's ways does not come easily. But the freedom of the wide place is priceless. His words bring us to ever-expanding life.