Have you ever been in a tight spot?
Where I went to school, as an undergrad, we had a busy street that many students walked across. The school responded by placing three stop signs incredibly close to each other to keep cars from speeding through and running over people.
Anyone who drove this street cursed these proximal stop signs.
One night, around 2 am, I blasted through all three stop signs (since not a soul was around). I was immediately pulled over and slapped with four moving violations (speeding and running three stop signs).
A $400 ticket.
I freaked out. My life was over. I had no way to pay that sum and opportunities I hoped to participate in evaporated before my eyes.
I was in a tight spot.
Psalm 118 provides us with a beautiful image: “When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place” (v. 5).
A spacious place.
Room to breath and run and be free.
My story ends well. The judge, for reasons I will never fully understand, let me off the hook. I went to traffic school and had the whole incident erased from my record. I owed nothing.
Grace. A spacious place.
stephenboutrywords 