Stretch Yourself

There is nothing too hard for you. Jeremiah 32:17

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Job 8:21

One of the things I have missed most in these last few weeks is the ability to be in the pool and to stretch all my muscles. Research confirms that stretching is good for your flexibility, blood flow, posture, stress relief, and mood. It also increases your energy and calms your mind. We could all do with a good stretch right now. The more you stretch, the stronger you become.

Faith is like a muscle; trouble may strain it, but in the end it grows stronger. When we are being stretched spiritually, our faith in God grows. I can bet that there are more people praying, more people invoking God’s will, and more people turning to faith than we have ever seen in our lifetime. We are being stretched!

We are being stretched mentally as well. How many of us are playing board games, doing crossword puzzles, putting puzzles together, and even reading books! We are also discovering that our old ideas about life, faith, and even religion are being challenged, and they are either being replaced with new ideas or our old ideas are being reinforced. God is stretching us!

Our relations with others are also being stretched. Selfishness is dying and being replaced with love and caring. We are learning not to take anything for granted but rather to stretch those relationships and fill each day with appreciation for those we love.

Every now and then God allows us to have stretching experiences that prepare us for the races He has called us to run in this life. Even with the stretching, sometimes our soul just “hits the wall” and no amount of strength or pressing ahead will move the problem. This is a soul stretch!

These stretches are just warm ups for the real tests and races that will come. God’s never going to allow us to run a race for Him or without Him, but we’ve got to make sure we are stretched in our thinking, our faith, and our relationships.

During this time when nothing we do seems to move this problem called COVID-19, just remember to take a deep breath and let God work on stretching us. It’s the soul stretching that allows us to face situations we think might kill us, but don’t; and to endure times when we think we won’t make it, but we do.

Sooner or later we all face difficult times, but they are just deep knee bend stretches of life. So when we feel like we are being stretched to the breaking point, don’t quit, keep letting God stretch us!

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken. copied