(ok, ok, ok, I will get back to the 11/11 experience, I promise…)When it comes to staffing ministry, one of my personal philosophies is to put the square pegs in the square holes and the round pegs in the round holes. Put people in the place that fits them. Better yet, find out who they are what they’re gifted or called to do and then make room for them. In other words, create the square hole for the square peg.
While driving around today I began to extrapolate upon this philosophy and consider how it might apply to our interpersonal relationships. Imagine for example that we are like the Tupperware “Shape-O-Toy” pictured above. We have holes in us that were designed to be filled by others. We have God shaped holes and spouse shaped holes and children shaped holes. We have holes in the shape of a best friend, mentor, protégé or pastor.
The healthy relationships in our lives are represented by fitting the right shapes in the right holes. Unhealthy relationships, on the other hand, are identified when we try to jam a shape into a hole it was never designed to fit.
Maybe you’re thinking to yourself hey, nothing seems to fit! Could it be that our holes have become misshapen? Some of us have experienced repeated abuse or dysfunction. So much so that anything and everything seems to fall through, both in and out. Is it any wonder we have trouble sustaining a relationship. Maybe you’ve tried to use a shape as a “one size fits all” and expect for example, a spouse to meet all of your relational needs, when what you really need is a friend. Or maybe you’re like me and you’ve discovered that sometimes you’ve tried to have people fill the relational needs in your life that only God was meant to fill.
Ok, so follow this…
Psalm 139:14 says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
Psalm 8:3 says that all of creation was “set in place” by God.
And Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a plan for each of us.
It sounds like God knows what shape we are and where we were designed to fit. It also sounds like He knows what our holes are and what we need to fill them.
Lord, shape us with your hands. Put the right pieces in the right places. Take the square pegs out of our round holes. Repair or replace the broken pieces. Oh God, make us whole. Amen
Copyright © Tom Zawacki 2006
(Psycho-Geometrics is a method using geometric shapes to define personality types, for more info click here or here)
Tom - I like this. What came to my mind was what happens to the round hole that God made in us to be filled by (whatever), and we go our own way and try to fill it with something else (sin), in the form of a square peg. Initially it is a poor fit, but over time the roundness starts to become worn into squareness. Is the amount of baggage we carry around or show up with on your front door due to this?
ReplyDeleteLove you - Rich