My Space or His Space?

The first time I heard the term "my space" is when I came to the United States of America. I had arrived at my dorm room and discovered that I would be sharing a room with one other person. Having settled in and having met my new roommate, I figured I could clean our room because it was “messy.” Having been raised in Zambia, particularly by the kind of mother I have, when you clean the house, you clean every area of every room. Everyone's space is your space. It was therefore no big deal that I ventured to clean my roommate's "space," putting her shoes in order, dusting her drawers, and then vacuum the room (mission accomplished).

Unbeknown to me, this was very offensive to her, and maybe the culture because I had invaded her space. The nerve I had to even touch her stuff, let allow, rearrange her shoes. I apologized and I never cleaned her side of the room ever again. Her space was her space and not mine. Lesson one!

The second time I heard the term “my space” was in reference to the Internet. My Space is a social interface program that allows you to send messages to friends, share pictures, post comments, upload videos, etc. To access someone's account, you either have to be invited to be their friend, or their account is open to the public, like those for musicians or politicians who want to connect with people. The account holders’ set up these sites. You cannot just get on a site and do what you want, unless you have been given permission. It is their space and they set the rules.

In retrospect, my space, even by its given name, speaks to the personal image, privacy, boundaries, conditions, restrictions, and the list can go on and on. Bottom line, its about you and me!!!

I must admit, the "my space" syndrome has somewhat rubbed onto me. Some of the things that never bothered me when I was back home in Zambia bother me now; like having someone stop by unannounced for a visit. Sometimes I hear my internal thoughts asking, "You know my number, why did you not call to tell me you were coming?" And of course, if truth were told, I have caller ID, so even if you did call, I have the option of ignoring the phone. It is my phone and it is my space. Unfortunately, My Space can be found guilty. Why do I say so?

Try having my space with God! It doesn't work! If it does, I have one conclusion; you are miserable and struggling in your life.

Sometimes, if not most times, we treat God as though He has a "my space" account with us. He is invading our space. We want to screen His calls; ignore the door when He knocks; get upset when He rearranges our stuff, and refuse to add Him as a friend. He is there quite all right, but He is almost like a mannequin. If we give Him open access, it is based on our terms and not His. The last time I checked out this kind of attitude, it did not sit well with God. He has a way to demonstrating that He is God and we are not.

For starters, we are made in His image. Genesis 1: 26,27 states:

"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Based on this scripture, we know that we were created in “His space” so where do we get the idea that it is "my space?" Try selling the thought of my space to the disciples. Jesus walked right into their lives and disrupted their spaces quite all right. In the Gospels when the disciples were attending to their spaces, Jesus did not come and ask them if He could come and be a part of their space; NO! He walked right up to them and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men" Matthew 4:18; Mark 1:16; Luke 5: 27; John 1: 43.

So much for their space! In other instances, Jesus challenged people to crucify self and serve others, as demonstrated by Him washing His disciples feet, ministering to the sick, feeding the hungry and raising the dead.

I can hear the voices saying, well Jesus took time alone from the crowd. Jesus set boundaries. He had His space. You are correct. I am not suggesting that every single time people come calling that we do what they are asking us to do. Some people can be manipulative, so we need to be discerning with each encounter. What I am suggesting is that we examine our motives and find out why we react the way we do when our space is invaded.

The difference between Jesus' my space and what we call my space today is simple; Jesus retreated to seek the face of His father to be strengthened for the mission and to also renew His relationship with the father (Luke 6: 12). Jesus knew why He came to earth as he explained clearly to His disciples in John 4: 34, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." Jesus welcomed the unannounced visitors; He welcomed being "rearranged" by God (try leaving a home where you walked on gold and you are worshiped 24/7 and then you come to earth were you are ridiculed and insulted for 3 years-that's a major rearrangement). He never screened His calls, cause if He did, the woman with the issue of blood would not have been healed; the woman at the well would not have been delivered; the wedding at Cana would not have had a happy ending.

I believe the notion on "my space" comes from an area of selfishness, if we really want to be honest, or a place of fear, because we do not want people to see who we really are. But I challenge us today to really consider this thing we call my space. Is this life really our own space or is this life God's space? When God invades our space, it is not to make us feel less human, prisoners who have no hope of ever having fun, miserable Christians who cannot tell if they are coming or going! God's space is that of love, fulfillment, purpose, making a difference in the lives of others, enjoying God's grace and mercy.

This is my question: My space or His space?