THE WIDER LIFE (Part 2)
Some lives are narrow, by
reason of the way their circumstances have dwarfed them. We may not say,
however, that poverty necessarily has this effect, for many who are poor, who
have to live in a little house, with few comforts and no luxuries—live a life
that is large and free—as wide as the sky in its gladness. While on the other
hand there are those who have everything of an earthly sort that heart could
desire—yet whose lives are narrow.
There are some people to
whom life has been so heavy a burden that they are ready to drop by the way.
They pray for health, and instead illness comes with its suffering and its
expense. Their work is hard. They have to live in continual discomfort. Their
associations are uncongenial. There seems no hope of relief. When they awake in
the morning, their first consciousness is of the load they must take up and
begin again to carry. Their disheartenment has continued so long that it has
grown into hopelessness. The message to such is, “ENLARGE the place of your
tent.” No matter how many or how great are the reasons for discouragement, a
Christian should not let bitterness enter his heart and blind his eyes—so that
he cannot see the blue sky and the shining stars.
Looked at from an earthly
viewpoint, could any life have been more narrow in its condition than Christ’s?
Think who he was—the Messiah, sinless, holy, loving, infinitely gentle of
heart. Then think of the life into which He came—the relentless hate that
was about Him, the bitter enmity that pursued Him, the rejection of love that
met Him at every step. Think of the failure of His mission, as it seemed, and
His betrayal and death. Yet He was never discouraged. He never grew bitter.
How did He overcome the
narrowness? The secret was love. The world hated Him—but He loved on. His own
received Him not, rejected Him—but His heart changed not toward them. Love
saved Him from being embittered by the narrowness. This is the one and the only
secret that will save any life from the narrowing influence of the most
distressing circumstances. Widen your tent! Make room in it for God and for
your neighbor; and as you make place for enlargement, the enlargement will
come.
There was a woman who had
become embittered by a long experience of sickness and of injustice and wrong,
until she was shut up in a prison of hopelessness. Then, by reason of the death
of a relative, a little motherless child was brought to her door. The door was
opened most reluctantly, at first; the child was not warmly welcomed. Yet when
she was received, God entered with her, and at once the dreary home began to
grow brighter. The narrowness began to be enlarged. Other human needs came and
were not turned away. In blessing others, the woman was blessed herself. Today
there is no happier home than hers. Try it if you are discouraged. Begin to serve those who need your love
and ministry. Encourage some other disheartened one—and your own discouragement
will pass away. Brighten another’s lonely lot—and your own will be brightened.
Some lives are made narrow
by their limitations in opportunity. Some men seem not to have the same chance
that others have. They may be physically incapacitated for holding their place
in the march of life. Or they may have failed in business after many years of
hard toil—and may lack the courage to begin again. They may have been hurt by
folly or sin and do not seem able to take the upward flights they used to take.
There are some people in every community who, for one cause or another, do not
seem to have a chance to make much of their life. But whatever it may be that
shuts one in a narrow environment, as in a little tent, the Word of God brings
a message of hope and cheer. Its call ever is, “ENLARGE the place of your tent,
stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords,
strengthen your stakes!” (Isaiah 54:2)
There is danger that some
of us overdo our contentment. We regard as an impassable wall, certain
obstacles and hindrances which God meant to be to us only inspirers of courage.
Difficulties are not intended to stop our efforts but to arouse us to our best.
We give up too easily. We conclude that we cannot do certain things, and think
we are submitting to God’s will—in giving up without trying to overcome, when
in fact we are only showing our indolence. We suppose that our limitations are
part of God’s plan for us, and that we have only to accept them and make the
best of them.
In some cases this is
true—there are barriers that are impassable; but in many cases God wants us to
gain the victory over the limitations. His call is, “Enlarge the place of your
tent!” …
Life should never cease to widen. A man ought to be at his best during the last
years of his life. He ought always to
be enlarging the place of his tent—until its curtains are finally pushed
out into the limitless spaces of immortality!
The Wider Life, Chapter 1, by J. R. Miller, 1908.