Years of labor by dozens of skilled craftsmen with an incredible budget produced one of the most beautiful and exquisitely decorated ships ever. Also, armed “to the teeth” with bronze cannons it was arguably the most powerful vessel in the world. King Gustavo Adolphus sought to lift Sweden to the ranks of the great naval powers of England, France, and Spain in the 17th century. It appeared accomplished on August 10, 1628, as the newly commissioned Vasa set sail with great fanfare and over 100 members of Swedish nobility on board.
Tragically, the Vasa sailed less than one nautical mile before a gust of wind pushed the top-heavy vessel dangerously close to tipping. The sailors were able to correct it only to have a second gust of wind push it over again this time with water filling the open gun portholes. Within a matter of minutes, Sweden’s finest ship lay beneath 100 feet of water in the Stockholm port with more than thirty dead. The Vasa became a maritime disaster!
The greater tragedy is that it didn’t have to happen. An Admiral had earlier tested the Vasa’s seaworthiness and found it to be too top heavy. Others who worked on it knew that the weight of the cannons added with the opulence of the decorations created a disastrous future. They knew the Vasa could still be a mighty vessel, but they needed more time to make the necessary adjustments. None would dare approach the King with their concerns. Aldophus was unapproachable. His ego would not allow questions. His demanding attitude would not allow for more time. The smallness of his heart would cause him to be remembered more for failure than success.
The smallness of his heart would cause him to be remembered more for failure than success. What about you? What will your legacy be? Click To TweetWhat about you? What will your legacy be? Is your heart large or small? Of course, I’m not asking about the muscle that pumps blood but the spirit that is the real you. Is your heart large and loving or small and suffocating? Is your ego bigger than your heart? Or do you live with an increasing sense of God living big inside you and enabling you to live big?
Live big? What does that even mean? It simply means to live the life God intends for you to live. The Psalmist prayed it this way, “I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart.” [Psalm 119:32] It isn’t possible to live God’s way without the Lord expanding your heart’s capacity to receive and love.
If your heart is small, it is suffocating the life in you and those around you. If your heart is large, it is allowing life to flow freely through you – increasing you and those around you. A powerful way to gauge the size of your heart is by asking yourself this question: How do I react when I am questioned or challenged in what I believe? Do I become defensive and argumentative? Do I turn off and away from anything that suggests I need to take a fresh look at something? Or do I listen with an openness to learn and a willingness to yield to reason?
If your heart is small, it is suffocating the life in you and those around you. Click To TweetJames instructs us that so-called “wisdom” in a heart that is envious, bitter and filled with selfish ambition is not true wisdom but originates from an earthly, sensual and demonic source. “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle.) [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity.)” [James 3:17 Amp(c)]
I encourage you today to check your heart. Ask the Lord to make it larger. Stretch yourself out before in Him in humility and honesty. He delights in growing us up into His thoughts and ways!
Stretch yourself out before in Him in humility and honesty. He delights in growing us up into His thoughts and ways! Click To TweetTake some time to listen to the full message I taught recently at The Lift and let God STRETCH YOUR HEART:
Keith Nix is the founding lead pastor of a thriving congregation, The Lift Church in Sevierville, Tennessee. [Visit www.TheLiftChurch.tv] He has traveled internationally since 1993 carrying a unique prophetic message of awakening to this generation. He and his wife, Margie, have one daughter, Isabella.
