With summer almost over, many of you will look back either with pleasure or with pain on the long road trips you took and the hours you spent sitting in a small cramped space. If you made frequent stops along the way, the ride would have been much more tolerable than if you’d been wedged for hours like a hamburger patty between two oversized slices of bread. Once you got out of the vehicle, you were relieved to be able to stretch and feel the blood flowing again.
A sad story
What does this have to do with going around in circles? Recently, I read a sad little story about a dog that had been kept in a small cage for all her life. When she was finally let out, she could only move around in circles because that was all she was accustomed to.
Prayer of Jabez
As I reflected on that painful story, I thought of my own life and the times when I felt like I was only moving around in circles, not going anywhere fast. Have you ever been in that position? In 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10, Jabez asked God to “bless him indeed and enlarge his territory.” Some have used this prayer as a mantra to guarantee success after the book written by Bruce Wilkinson became a mammoth bestseller. Here, I am comparing “enlarge my territory” with moving in circles, or staying on the same spot. It’s not healthy for a dog and it’s not healthy for us.
Enlarge your territory
As you embark on your journey to health and wholeness, ask God to enlarge your territory. Ask Him to take you out of that small, cramped space you have been operating in for so long. That limited way of thinking and behaving, of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. You are setting limits on yourself and on God who has no limits. He wants the best for you in every area of your life.
The Bible says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well,” (3 John 1:2). NIV Think about that as you go through your day and ask God to give you the wisdom and direction to move out of that small, tight circle. God bless
