Where Is My Guest Room?
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him.Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.” –Mark 14:12-15
If you’ve ever taken a long trip, you know the weariness that comes with a long car or plane ride. During the last few hours of the journey, all you really want is to just get to your destination so you can stretch out comfortably and rest. Ever arrive in that state of expectation only to find your room isn’t ready for you? Or worse, perhaps a room wasn’t reserved for you at all? It’s an unsettling feeling to have no place to land.
I wonder, how many times does the Lord knock on the door of a heart, only to find they have not prepared room for him? Some may have shut Him out altogether, but even those of us that know Him may have shut doors to select rooms in our lives. We all have areas we may have consciously or unconsciously tried to hide from God. However, Jesus continues to knock on the doors to those “hidden” rooms, asking us to let Him in. He desires to fellowship with us in all areas of our lives.
This passage begs another question: What does it really mean to prepare a room for Him? When we do invite Him into an area of our lives, how prepared are we for what He might do? Are we prepared to be flexible and open to the Lord moving in unexpected or even uncomfortable ways? Or do we invite Him in with the expectation that He stay near the door, essentially saying, “You can come in Lord, but don’t touch anything!” If we want Godly results in a situation, we must allow Him to work things out His way. We also have to trust that His intention is always to heal, renew and restore; it is never to condemn, criticize or shame. Though it may be uncomfortable to let God into our “hidden” rooms, the result will always be a happier, healthier us if we will yield completely to His guidance.
So today, when the Lord asks us, “Where is my guest room?”, how will we answer? Will we have a place for Him? How prepared will we be for Him to inhabit that space?