Stretched

The hardest part of my day occurs when I finally determine to leave the comfort of my warm, cozy nest,  in exchange for the cold, unknown of morning. My fluffy robe and slippers stand at the ready, but before I reach for them, I stretch.  Regardless of the  temperature in my room, remember it is unheated in winter, my sleep-atrophied muscles require movement.  Later, as I prepare to run or exercise, I stretch again, to get those same muscles lengthened and limber, ready for action.  Stretching is a good thing, an important part of caring for our bodies, so why is it that when God tries to stretch us, we balk.  “No, God!!, we cry, “that’s gonna hurt!” Perhaps the old, I’m not ready,  I’m too old, too young, or not good enough excuses are your reply.  The good news, if you can call it that, is you are not alone.  Great men of faith like, Moses, Gideon, and scores of others, not only made up excuses, but ran away and hid, to avoid being stretched.  The bad news, which isn’t bad at all, is God, like a persistent athletic trainer, is going to keep after you until you relent.   Believe me, He won’t give up.  And why should he?  He’s not asking you to jump out of bed, and run a marathon without practicing first.  That would be crazy impossible in the human sense, and it’s not God’s intention either. But, He does need to get us out of our cozy comfort zones, and that starts with stretching.  I remember a time, 13 years ago to be exact, when God asked me to talk to a young man about his personal relationship with the Lord.  I argued, saying I was too old, he wouldn’t listen to me, but He wouldn’t relent.  It was a stretch for me, but I weakly said OK, but only if God arranged the encounter.  My human mind couldn’t imagine a time that would work, but by golly God set it up!  Wonder of wonders, the young man listened, and was interested enough to come to church with me.  After that we discussed God ever time we met, and online as well, I even gave him a beautiful green leather Bible.  One morning I was checking my emails, for his latest reply, when my son came into the room and told be that he had been killed in a car wreck the night before. It was a terrible tragedy, humanly speaking, but it would have been far worse if I hadn’t let God stretch me.  His mother asked me to select and read the scriptures at his funeral, because she knew that I had been so influential in his spiritual life.  I felt humbled, and ashamed that I had ever fought God’s stretching. Stretching is vital and beneficial not only in our physical lives, but in our walk with Christ.  So fear not, when you are stretched by the Master it doesn’t hurt at all!! “Strengthen the weak hands, steady the shaking knees!” Isaiah 35:3.