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 HEARTLIGHT(R) Magazine
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October 28, 2008
 
  TODAY'S ARTICLE  

Growing to Your Space, by Rubel Shelly


With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers,
as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a
living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't
let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God
re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice
that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and
moves towards the goal of true maturity (Romans 12:1-2 JB Phillips).

One of the common complaints of people in our time is the monotony and
boredom of life. I have a sneaking suspicion that this slant on life
contributes to what we call "burnout." It may also play a role in
certain high-risk behaviors that range from driving too fast to getting
caught up in a marriage-destroying affair to experimenting with drugs.

Monotony and boredom are self-inflicted wounds to the human spirit. If
you have a routine, lackluster, and sometimes tedious job, that does
not mean you have to live a routine, lackluster, and tedious life.
Maybe you need to change jobs. In the current environment, that's not
always possible -- or necessary. Maybe you simply need to give yourself
some additional space to grow.

Perhaps you've been to the fair and seen cucumbers grown inside soda
bottles or pumpkins in gallon jugs. Young plants placed inside
containers grow to the space they have. They take on the contours and
limits of their surroundings.

Look beyond limitation to possibility!

I understand it works with animals too. Put a young fish whose species
normally grows reasonably large into a tiny aquarium, and its full
adult size will be suppressed because of the strictly limited space it
was given.

The same thing is true of people. We grow to the intellectual space we
have. We take on the dull or positive contours of our emotional
environments. We are big-hearted or parsimonious due to the spiritual
influences that mold us. But this is not to say that we are the
helpless victims of circumstances beyond our control. No matter your
job or current life predicament, you can choose the environment for
your soul. You can give yourself some room to grow.

For your body: eat sensibly, get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and
stay away from tobacco and alcohol. For your mind: read good
literature, listen to inspirational-educational cassettes or compact
disks in your car, expand your vocabulary, and keep clear of the
pollution of pornography and vulgarity. For your spirit: worship, read
Scripture, invest yourself in service to others, and refuse to live in
the spiritual bondage of cynicism or bitterness over a "bad break" life
has dealt you.

To be a big-hearted, great-souled person is not the unanticipated
destiny of a privileged few. It is the preordained outcome for anyone
who chooses to look beyond limitation to possibility and learns to see
an opportunity in every problem.

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength (Isaiah 40:31).

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(c) 2008 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly