She’s Not Dead, But Sleeping

Make Room For The Girl. She’s Not Dead, But Sleeping

Make room for the girl, she is not dead, but sleeping. And that’s how it started for me today in my devotional time.

When Jesus came into the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, Make room for the girl is not dead, but is sleeping. And they ridiculed him.
Matthew 9:23-24

This passage stopped me in my tracks. Wait. What? So many times we are surrounded with noise, with commotion and clutter.

With frenemies (the adversary) who are planning a funeral. The funeral of our dreams and hopes.

The noise of life can be loud. Deafening loud. It can be used to distract us from the core of what we should be focused on. As the distractions happen, things begin piling up.

It actually just starts snuffing out that thing, the core thing. The life giving thing God has given you.

Imagine This…

If you were at a campfire and the fire was blazing, you would be enjoying that warmth. The glow on your face would tell it all. Your hands and feet feeling toasty. You are so settled from this warmth. 

As time went on, this fire would begin to die down almost to nothing. It appears to be out. Snuffed. But if you look carefully, those embers are red hot underneath those charred pieces of wood. 

It would take some poking around and repositioning logs but that would be it. It just needed some room to breathe. Some space and room for it to redevelop in its environment. Room for it to ignite once again.

Aren’t we like this? We need to make room to rekindle or redevelop our relationship with God. That God sized hole within us is always calling out.

Sometimes, things in our life look bleak. After a while those things appear dead. No movement. You look for life in it, breath in it, but nothing. Whatever is there appears to be a bag of bones. The remains of what used to be.

What if someone came in and started clearing out the noise, the clutter, the debris. Cutting away the thing that was suffocating that life source within you. 

Carrying away the garments of labels and defeats. Those things that were trying to choke the life out of you.

Maybe you could see the thing within you wasn’t dead, it just needed space to thrive. Room to grow. Jesus is the master of this. He often tells us the opposite of what others recommend to us.

They burden us. He says, come unto me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

He continues to say, come to me because I am gentle and lowly in heart and my yoke and burden is light.

When you carry this yoke, it will make room for you. It won’t burden you. It will begin to uncover and make room for the most important things in your life.

When you begin to make room for it, it will be a life giving source.

Doesnt it make sense that the enemy would want to choke it out and murder it because not only would it sustain you, but it would sustain others too. This is why it is vital that you make room for the essential things.

Essential things are the life givers. They steal nothing, but they add everything. They bring contributing value to your life and the lives of others. This is why the enemy wants to cover it up.

It’s very subtle the way He distracts you from it. Adding weight and covering it a layer at a time until it’s snuffed out in darkness. But, pulling layer upon layer off will make room for this gift in your life.

Others will stream to the life source that you have for them because it gives them hope. 

Stop Neglecting What You Have

Neglecting your gifts will cover them up, but burying them suffocates them. Think again about that again. Just hit pause for a minute.

What is it that Jesus is touching in your life? What is it that He says, make room for it. It isn’t dead. He is silencing the noise that surrounds it. 

The wailing of deadness around it. Calling into question your approach. Your temptation to shove it in the corner and ignore that it’s there approach. 

The minimizing of the power it holds. Downplaying the lives it will resurrect and help point them in the right direction.

How?

By making room for it. Intentionally, giving it space and a place in your life.

Everything that is valuable to us finds a place to fit. When we see value in it we give that space up for it.

What about you? What about what you have to offer in the form of your gift?

Is it covered with excuses? Excuses are used to cram down the real reason we don’t want to do something. 

Notice in the passage that they ridiculed Jesus. If they did it to him, then I guarantee you they will do it to us. But do you know what? You have an audience of one. Maximize the one. 

Whatever you give your attention to grows because you’re feeding it. Choose what you want to feed. Feed others by making room for the gift that you possess. Make room for it and who cares what they say.

“They” aren’t the ones you are making room for but there is someone out there that you are. Serve them. Serve Him by serving them.

Stop Taking The Easy Way Out

Don’t take the easy way out and start planning a funeral for that gift when God says, make room for it so it can awaken.

It’s so much easier to die than to make room for something. Commotion around the death of it makes it easier because it’s a beautiful distraction. The thoughts of being ridiculed by using that gift makes it easier to die than to actually give yourself to it. 

It is so much easier dying because it doesn’t require anything of you. Just surrender.

When death starts happening, one by one organs start shutting down. No longer able to function. 

They start giving in to the struggle. Because they are weary, they waver in being strong. No longer making room. They surrender to the process of death. 

Who wants to make room in a room where death lingers and people are playing your funeral song. Doesn’t sound inviting. 

Nevertheless, at your word Lord. We make room. Make room for you. For others.

We shed light once we emerge from that death state. And we rise. We rise to give back by not giving in.

The room that was made for us is now making room for others… so make room for the girl who has been sleeping.

Do me a favor and click the share button to pass this along to your friends. Also leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ERROR: si-captcha.php plugin: securimage.php not found.