Solomon and largeness of heart

There is a story that comes to us out of the long ago of a king who organized a great race within his kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom participated. A bag of gold was to be given to the winner, and the finish line was within the courtyard of the king's palace. The race was run, and the runners were surprised to find in the middle of the road leading to the king's palace a great pile of rocks and stones. But they managed to scramble over it or to run around it and eventually to come to the courtyard. Finally all the runners had crossed the finish line except one. But still the king did not call the race off. After a while one lone runner came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand and said, "O King, I am sorry that I am so late. But you see, I found in the road a pile of rocks and stones, and it took me a while, and I wounded myself in removing them." Then he lifted the other hand, and in it was a bag. He said, "But, Great King, I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of gold." The king said, "My son, you have won the race, for that one runs best who makes the way safer for those who follow." -- Bruce Thielemann, "Christus Imperator," Preaching Today, Tape 55.

Today, at Cornerstone Community Church, we were taught about living as Royalty (sons and daughters of the Most High God). What struck me most was this verse on Solomon:

"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore." (1 Kings 4:29 KJV)

I always knew Solomon had wisdom. I never knew he also had largeness of heart. Ps Yang preached that how large our heart is determines the extent to which God can use us to reach others ... how much we can carry ... and then distribute. In the F1 pitstop, refuelling a racing car takes all of 7 seconds, because the fuel hose is huge (and takes 2 men to carry). On the contrary, if our hearts are constricted, how little love and grace will flow from God, through us, to others ...

I found another analogy in Sheena Ryan's book "Pathways to Destiny", which I am currently reading. She writes, "Our lives can be a narrow pathway or a superhighway for the purposes of God. It is up to us to choose what we will allow God to do in our life and how much of His presence and power can dwell in us ... The state of our personal pathways determines the degree of the glory of God that can be revealed in and through us, and also how much of His kingdom we can access. When the pathways are fully restored, they become that highway for the glory of God. Within that glory-God's manifest presence - is contained all that we need both for our own life and the lives of those we touch."

The start of 2010 has been busy, harried and fast-paced already ... and I can so feel my heart constricting as a result. I think in Singapore, our pace of life and the striving is the biggest enemy of this thing called largeness of heart. But what a gift it is! My prayer is that He would grant me largeness of heart!