Just Thinking
Why is God stretching me so much? I do not know about you, but I am constantly feeling the hands of God stretching my life, my work, and my faith. There are days I want to simply say, "ENOUGH!"
Yet, scripture reminds us that not only does God love us, but God also believes in us. God has a great amount of faith, faith that we will turn to God and serve God with our whole heart. Yes, we as a creation can be a mess to behold with all our struggling to be Number One; to have it all, to control it all, or even to be our own all in all. Yet, God does not give up on us. In fact, I believe the harder we try to do it on our own, the more God stretches us to what we think is our capacity. But it is not only when we are kicking against the gourds, but also when we are closest to God in our daily life that God stretches us just a little bit further.
This has been a most difficult year. I would have never dreamt that my ministry and my life would have been stretched so much with so few breaks in between. I have told a number of people that I cannot wait for 2016; it has to be a better year! If I am honest though, I will say that this year has driven me more and more into the arms of God. Have I been successful? Have I overcome the pain of these many days? Am I on top of the spiritual world? I sadly have to say "no" to all the above. But, I am a richer person, because God has been keeping me in the arms of God's love and in the protection of the Holy Spirit. I'm still standing, if only with the help of sisters and brothers in Christ and in this most difficult but blessed ministry.
Is God stretching you? Are you growing in your spiritual life? Not that I wish for you to have a difficult day, month, or year, but I wish for you to be stretched so you too will grow in your dependence upon God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I want you to grow to become the man or woman of God who can withstand the attack of the enemy of God, who can be counted on when the way becomes difficult, and who might stand with faith surrounded by a host of witnesses and continue to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Maybe God created us with a bit of a rubber band within our being. God stretches God's people if God has faith in them. So I guess we should rejoice in all circumstances and when we can't rejoice do it anyway, God will handle the rest.
Just thinking about life ... it's what us aging people do.
Dana