Making room for the Guest who really matters.

Audio Version available below…

Psalm 24:3–4
“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

When the Table Gets Crowded

What do you need to let go of?

Lately I’ve been noticing something about myself that has nothing to do with Christmas lights or a busy calendar. It’s the way I can drift back into old habits without even realizing it. I’ll think I’m walking closely with God, paying attention, surrendering, slowing down… and then, almost overnight, I’m right back in the patterns He’s been trying to free me from.

Control sneaks in.
Overcommitting sneaks in.
Negative thinking sneaks in.
That tight, old survival mode settles over me like a fog.

I’ll catch myself saying yes too quickly. Carrying weight He never asked me to carry. Filling my mind with what-ifs. Talking from a place of fear instead of peace. Moving through my day like everything depends on me. And somewhere in there, my soul starts to feel crowded again.

It’s not that I stop loving Jesus. If anything, it’s in those moments that I crave Him the most. But the old ways of thinking are familiar, and they pull me fast. My hands grab for control. My mind spirals. My emotions tighten. And before I know it, I’ve drifted from the very place I was just asking God to anchor me.

But recently, God has been interrupting me with something I’m starting to call a holy slow down. Just small, surprising moments where the Spirit steps into the middle of my rush and says, “Look again.”

Sometimes it’s when I pull into the driveway, Sometimes it shows up over a sink of dishes or while I’m folding towels. Sometimes its mid-conversation with a friend. Just a nudge. A whisper that creates space in my spirit.

And in that pause, I’ll ask,
“Holy Spirit, what’s happening in me right now… what do You want me to see.”

Most of the time, the answer is simple.
My hands are full again.
My thoughts are spinning again.
I’ve drifted back into habits He’s been trying to loosen.
I’ve picked up weight that was never mine.

I’m not sharing this as someone who has figured it all out. I’m sharing it because this is where He’s meeting me. These little slow downs have become my way back to Him… not in theory, but in the middle of real life.

So, that’s what clean hands look like that for me right now. Letting go of the control I keep trying to grip. A pure heart starts there too. Not perfection… just honesty. Just returning.

Because peace has never come from managing everything well.
Peace has always come from surrendering what was never mine.

Clean Hands and Pure Heart

To feel Psalm 24, you almost have to picture it. God’s people climbing the hill toward the temple. Step by step. Breath by breath. Their legs aching from the incline. Their voices carrying the song upward as they approached the place where God’s presence rested. A reminder with every step… we’re about to stand before a holy God.

“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord… who may stand in His holy place.”

It was a humble and real question. Spoken by people who knew exactly where their feet were taking them. The temple wasn’t just beautiful. It was sacred. It was where God chose to dwell. To stand there was no small thing.

And the answer came like a mirror.

“He who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

In Scripture, the priests washed before entering the sanctuary. The water didn’t make them worthy. The washing confessed their need. It said without words, “I can’t walk in here on my own.”

For us, clean hands ask the same question.
What am I gripping that has no business in God’s presence.
Control. Hurry. Comparison. Resentment.
The pressure to hold everything together.

Clean hands are willing to let go.

A pure heart isn’t a heart that never wanders. It’s a heart that knows how to come back. Our hearts are the center of who we are, the place where motives live, the place God watches even when no one else can see.

Psalm 24 isn’t describing the perfect hearts. It’s describing the surrendered hearts. The honest ones. The ones who finally realize they can’t carry everything and carry God’s presence at the same time.

And this speaks straight into Advent. We cannot make room for the King when our hands are full and our hearts are split. Crowding creeps in quietly. A little more doing. A little more noise. A little more pressure. And suddenly the presence of God feels distant, not because He moved, but because we did.

But when the hands come clean and the heart comes home, something shifts. The noise settles. The soul breathes. The table clears. And suddenly the Guest we couldn’t feel before becomes beautifully obvious again. He was there all along. He was simply waiting for space.

I can’t think about making room without thinking about Jesus… the One who didn’t enter the world with power or applause. The One who came in through the humblest doorway… Laid in a manger because no one had space.

The King who commands galaxies chose a corner of this world that no one wanted.

Just to make room in us.

This is why Psalm 24 matters. Clean hands and a pure heart aren’t hoops to jump through. They are invitations. God is not after performance. He is offering presence. Jesus doesn’t want your perfection. He wants your space. Your attention. Your heart pulled back into alignment with His.

When we clear the table of our hearts, we’re not creating silence for silence sake.
We’re making room for a Person.
The Person.
The Guest who is also the Host.
The King who is also the Lamb.
The God who is Emmanuel… God with us.

That is who we’re making room for.

The Table Reset

This season isn’t asking you to do more. It’s asking you to notice more.

Because every table you sit at in December tells a story.
The kitchen table covered in packages and crumbs.
The dining room table filled with people and noise.
The restaurant table where you squeeze in one more gathering.
And the quiet, inner table where your thoughts and emotions sit down first.

So before you sit at your next table, pause long enough to ask:

What’s been taking up space at the table of my heart?
Have I been carrying too much into the tables I sit at with others?
Is pressure sitting in the seat where peace should be?
What would it look like to clear space and make room for Jesus at both tables?

He will not push His way into either one. He waits to be welcomed.

And when you whisper, “Jesus, I make room for You here,”
your inner table steadies.
Your outer table softens.
The weight loosens.
And peace sits down where pressure used to be.

Closing Prayer

Lord, You see how full my days feel.
You know every list and every noise and every thought scrambling for room in my heart.
Teach me to let go of what has been crowding You out.
Make my hands clean.
Make my heart steady.
I don’t want to rush past Your presence.
I want to dwell in it.
Jesus, I make room for You here.
Amen.

This Week’s Freebies

This week I have two tools to help you make room for God in the middle of a busy December.

1. Purity and Presence Heart-Work Page
I have added an additional page to the Heartwork Freebie. It walks you through a quiet moment with God, helping you release the things that weigh you down and welcome His presence in a fresh way. Print it out. Slip it in your journal. Sit with it for five undistracted minutes and let the Lord speak.

2. Make Room Spotify Playlist
If worship helps you soften your heart like it does mine, this playlist will meet you right where you are. These are songs that steady your mind, lift your eyes, and make room this December. Turn it on while you’re driving, folding laundry, or wrapping gifts… let it shift the atmosphere around you and inside you.

Both are free, created with love, and available in the Reset Room. If you haven’t subscribed yet, just drop your email below and I’ll send over the password. Don’t forget to check your junk/spam box if you don’t see it.

Until next time, keeping living, learning, and seeing it all through the lens of His grace.