Preface
This article aligns with my article submission for the Young Writers Program, managed by Press Services International. This program helps to provide a ready-source of content for the magazine publication Christian Today Australia.
The PSI/Christian Today article – my 38th – was first published Friday 7th September and is available here.
View the full list of my articles here.
I was recently visiting family in Adelaide and as part of the trip, I attended a conference on the Holy Spirit. During the conference I was introduced to the song Make Room, which is the inspiration of this latest article.
The melody and lyrics of this song make it sound really simple and straightforward. Here is where I lay it down. Every burden, every crown. When we come into worship, that is the time and place where we lay down our burdens and our crowns. Laying down our crowns is particularly important but both are associated to our mindset. The crowns are symbolic of our ego and pride. Positioning ourselves before God in worship should ensure we come before Him in humility, ensuring that He is on the throne instead of ourselves.
This is my surrender
If this song had an alternate title this would be it – This is My Surrender. A big theme of this song is about surrendering ourselves to God. For us to surrender to God and allow Him to have His way with us and our lives, we have to make room.
And I will make room for You, to do whatever You want to
This song aligns very clearly with facilitating the work of the Holy Spirit. When we surrender and make room in our lives intentionally, God will use that space and Holy Spirit can move. Sometimes we try and put God in a box, but the reality is He is God! Our limited human understanding will be challenged by God because He can’t be put into a box. This also extends to aligning our will with God’s will. Submitting to our good Heavenly Father is part of that surrender.
The fact that the verse is repeated helps to reinforce the song’s simplicity but also the need for us to really focus and take them seriously. This song is all about surrendering our will before God, to God and making way for His way. Thus, the song Make Room, really enhances and focus worship on its nature in bringing us into the presence of God. The first time you sing this worship song can really help you to reposition your mind, and to clear it from the day-to-day thoughts that may block us from truly worshiping God. This song is also a challenge because you can’t just sing this without taking the words seriously.
The journey that this song takes you through really builds on the premise of making room, and with each repetition of verse and chorus, you can really go deeper in pressing into God and freeing your mind to make room.
Shake up the ground of all my tradition
The bridge is declarative – really challenge the way I think God! Us humans can get quite hung up on tradition, and more often than not, the traditions we like to hold onto are man-made. So we sing this line and remind ourselves of what is important – God’s ways.
Break down the walls of all my religion
“Religion” has quite the negative connotation here. The same meaning from the previous line should again make us, in worship, realise that sometimes we turn our faith into a religion with rules being the focus. It is also about having a heart knowledge rather than simply the head knowledge. Again, the important focus is coming – God’s ways.
Your way is better
God’s ways are always better. Jesus taught us that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Really, His way is the only way.
As believers we often can fall into the trap of legalism and following our own personal “religion.” Sometimes, we fall into old patterns which can include idolatry, adding to and inviting things into our worship that have no place there. Even our good intentions of doing or saying the “right thing” can often miss the mark. No one is exempt of these temptations, and we all fall into them in one season or another.
However, God can graciously reveal Himself to us. He moves and works in our hearts to bring us to a place of complete surrender to Him. We read in James chapter 4, “submit yourselves therefore, to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
In Colossians chapter 2, Paul writes to the church in Colossae warning them of the false teachers among them preaching the message of “Jesus and,” reminding them of the true message of salvation. These words are applicable for the church today. Make Room is an opportunity for us to surrender everything at the feet of Jesus, and we declare that Jesus’ way is so much better. We confess that religion for its own sake has not and cannot lead us to Jesus. We confess that our apathy toward the imperatives in God’s Word has led us away from Him. And we confess that Jesus’ way is better.
This is why the song ends, “here is where I lay it down, You are all I’m chasing now. This is my surrender, this is my surrender.” May we lay down our ways and make Jesus our only aim. May we surrender our ways, lay down our crowns and our ambitions for building our own kingdoms, and follow Jesus instead. His way is better.