Romans 5:1-2 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus.And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us.We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.I am standing in the wide open spaces of God’s glory and grace. Just the thought of standing in wide open spaces relaxes me like nothing else. I’ve been in places where there was an excellent view. I felt as though I could stretch out my hands and not run into anyone. No tall buildings were there, only tall mountains. Even the trees did not encroach on my space. The air was clear. The sky was empty.One time, when I was young, my grandparents took me to a café in Corn, Oklahoma. Inside this little café was about 50 or so people who all seemed to know my grandpa. He talked to all of them like family. Outside the café, to escape all the noise, I walked out toward the highway that runs through the town. I could see a car in the distance but it was so far away I couldn’t hear it. There was such silence in this town. Apparently, most everybody was in the café.In front of me were corn fields. In the direction to my right was a long stretch of highway and very few buildings. On my left was the car, slowly approaching, but I still couldn’t hear it. This was a wide open space full of silence. It was still.When my children were young we would go to the beach. There were always so many people there. But if I stood at the water’s edge and stared out into the ocean, I could imagine a place without people. I could filter out the noise to just hear the waves. I could ignore the massive city behind me. I was in a wide open space. I was there for a few minutes at least.Sometimes silence isn’t enough. Sometimes I need peace. I need rest. I need rejuvenation. The world is troubling. There are bills to pay, work to do, people to get along with, and there can be problems. I can’t get away from the problems of this life.So then I turn to God. He loves me. He cares for me. He has provided a place for me with Him. Through Jesus God has provided this place. He has set me right with him. He has made me fit for him. I have faith in Him through Jesus. Even my faith, my ability to believe in him, comes from his Spirit. But I give in to it. There is nothing else left to me. I can do nothing else but turn to God.But when I do, I find the greatest thing of all. When I throw open the doors and windows of my heart and my life to God, when I invite him in, I find that God has already thrown open his door to me. And I find myself there in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall. And I shout my praise to him.That is what I love about being in church. I can abandon myself to praise God. I can find myself the peace I need from him. I am standing tall in a wide open space.
