There are no words to express how it feels to be stretched unless you have experienced it. Sooner or later there will be circumstances, relationships, decisions that need to be made that may cause you to feel this stretching. Let’s take a moment to discuss “Stretching.”
The kind of stretching I am discussing, takes faith to walk in. Learning to trust God at deeper levels can make us so uncomfortable and if we are not careful, we can retract instead of push through them. In these times God is requiring more of us and wants to grow us in our faith. This requires a new ability to trust beyond what we are comfortable with. The question becomes will I stretch my faith or limit myself based on my circumstances and what others are saying?
There comes this place for believers to decide whether we truly believe God or not. The other part of it is if we have been praying, are we really ready to walk out what we are believing God for? For the most part, answered prayers can be different than the way we thought. There are times God will require us to decide to step out past our own limitations. Then we choose whether we will when the time comes. You see many say things until they find themselves in the same situation. You really do not know how you would respond until you are in it?
Moses wanted to lead the people out to freedom and all that God promised. He had to maintain His ability to believe God called Him to lead them and face great oppositions. He understood this was beyond what He saw and could think naturally. He had to trust God completely through it all. This definitely was stretching. Noah was asked to build an ark although it had never rained before but because God said so, He obeyed God completely and was saved. This was stretching as well even in the face of great mocking and nothing showed evidence of any rain until Noah completed the ark. These are just 2 Biblical examples; the question becomes what do you believe God is requiring of you? How do you feel your faith being stretched?
I can honestly say that I have felt the pressure of my faith being stretched very often. It is in those moments that the decision is made, will I follow where God is leading or should I doubt this is possible. The longer you walk with God, you come to understand that where God is leading, He does not abandon you. He takes care of every detail even the things you are not thinking of. You learn to trust Him deeply and allow the stretching even when it is very uncomfortable. I’m thankful for these times because it has only made my relationship with God grow deeper.
I would love to hear how you have felt your faith being stretched. Tell me if you are walking in stretching right now. Even if you feel uncomfortable and inadequate to walk out this level of stretching, remember to pray all the way through. Our communication with God strengthens our faith. I believe as we share our stories, we are bringing encouragement to others. Thank you for reading and sharing. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Thank you for this beautifully written blog. I definitely can relate to being stretched. I think it is inevitable that we will all be stretched because Jesus was stretched on the cross for our sins. Thank you so much for your encouragement.
God bless you Aaron! Yes, we all are stretched in a variety of ways especially when God is pursuing us to new levels of faith, strength and tenacity. Sincerely appreciate your comments and blessed to hear that you were encouraged. I ask that you continue reading my blogs and please share them as an encouragement to many others as well. ~Pastor Natalie