I first heard these words from Christine Caine, whom I so admire. "Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not snap." Just a couple days from October, and I think back on this last year and wonder where the time has gone. I think about how busy our lives have been this year. Not the over-glorified kind of busy, though that is something I think we all can fall into if we're not careful.
No, this past year has been FULL-that's probably a better word. How much more fitting then, are the words charging us to be flexible so that we don't snap. I can still picture the student ministry leadership meeting where I spoke the words I felt God stirring in me from Isaiah 54. It was in January of this year, when I felt the Lord was beginning to grow us, stretch us even.
"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited" (Isaiah 54:2-3)
Those are scary words to speak over any area of your life if you aren't ready and willing to then do the stretching that it calls for. When I think back on this last year; and let me remind you, we are just now a month into the fall semester-a very busy time in ministry for us; there has been some real stretching of our capacities for this growth to have taken place. What a beautiful thing growth is. I know well that growth is often painful too. Oh, is it painful.
I think about when I've gone for a run without proper stretching beforehand. CRAMPS. Holy cramps! In life, we are prone to the same type of injuries that we are in physical exercise if we don't stretch properly. You may be tempted to stay where you're at, small, unchanged. Can I encourage you though? DON'T. God did not create us to be small, pitiful, non-growing people. When a plant outgrows its pot, you don't just kill or throw away the plant. You move it to a bigger area where it can continue to grow! God has so much more for me, that even through the growing pains, I am committed to the process of growing and stretching me. The hope that I hold on to through out all of it is that the end product would be beautiful; more like Christ.
Logistically, the growth our lives have experienced this year has meant fuller schedules, but even in that, we've learned to be very intentional and productive with our time. Again, sometimes we think we have to fill every spare second of our lives, and neglect the rest that God calls us to, but like staying the same, we have to resist that urge also. I have reached the place where I just know that NOTHING in my life will grow healthy until the first things come first. My own relationship with Christ must be growing if our ministry is going to grow. He has really stretched me in that this past year. Can I tell you though; the growth is BEAUTIFUL. I know there is so, so, so much more though!
Lots of stretching going on around here. Isaiah 40:31 has become an anthem of sorts for us!
"But those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on winds like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint!"
And all while looking eagerly towards Isaiah 43:18-19.
"But forget all that-it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?"
I am blessed when I learn flexibility, and I will not snap.
No, this past year has been FULL-that's probably a better word. How much more fitting then, are the words charging us to be flexible so that we don't snap. I can still picture the student ministry leadership meeting where I spoke the words I felt God stirring in me from Isaiah 54. It was in January of this year, when I felt the Lord was beginning to grow us, stretch us even.
"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare; Lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited" (Isaiah 54:2-3)
Those are scary words to speak over any area of your life if you aren't ready and willing to then do the stretching that it calls for. When I think back on this last year; and let me remind you, we are just now a month into the fall semester-a very busy time in ministry for us; there has been some real stretching of our capacities for this growth to have taken place. What a beautiful thing growth is. I know well that growth is often painful too. Oh, is it painful.
I think about when I've gone for a run without proper stretching beforehand. CRAMPS. Holy cramps! In life, we are prone to the same type of injuries that we are in physical exercise if we don't stretch properly. You may be tempted to stay where you're at, small, unchanged. Can I encourage you though? DON'T. God did not create us to be small, pitiful, non-growing people. When a plant outgrows its pot, you don't just kill or throw away the plant. You move it to a bigger area where it can continue to grow! God has so much more for me, that even through the growing pains, I am committed to the process of growing and stretching me. The hope that I hold on to through out all of it is that the end product would be beautiful; more like Christ.
Logistically, the growth our lives have experienced this year has meant fuller schedules, but even in that, we've learned to be very intentional and productive with our time. Again, sometimes we think we have to fill every spare second of our lives, and neglect the rest that God calls us to, but like staying the same, we have to resist that urge also. I have reached the place where I just know that NOTHING in my life will grow healthy until the first things come first. My own relationship with Christ must be growing if our ministry is going to grow. He has really stretched me in that this past year. Can I tell you though; the growth is BEAUTIFUL. I know there is so, so, so much more though!
Lots of stretching going on around here. Isaiah 40:31 has become an anthem of sorts for us!
"But those who wait upon the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on winds like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint!"
And all while looking eagerly towards Isaiah 43:18-19.
"But forget all that-it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do a brand new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?"
I am blessed when I learn flexibility, and I will not snap.
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