Greetings in Christ,
The funny thing about growth is the growing object must stretch. Let’s face it for things to grow they must stretch. We can apply this very same point to many things in life. For us to grow in any manner we must be stretched to grow. It is like blowing up a balloon.
Several of us had just been at a conference and we decided to stop at a restaurant to get something to eat. In the restaurant, they had a man dressed up like a clown walking around making balloon art. He would take a balloon and stretch it, pull it, tug on it, and then blow it up. The stretching, pulling, and tugging made it easier to blow up the balloon. The key part here is the man knew just how much to stretch, pull, and tug to get the balloon ready to be inflated with air.
It was this point he blew just enough air into the balloon to make the balloon art he was trying to make. He was able to make all kinds of things with the balloons, but every time he blew into a new balloon, he went through the same process of stretching the balloon he was going to inflate. The man had mastered the art of making balloon art for the customers of the restaurant.
If we look at the things of life, we can apply this stretching to grow to everything which grows, but it is not always easy to allow ourselves to be stretched for growth. When God commanded Joshua to enter into the promised land, He commanded him to be strong and courageous and to not deviate from the book of laws. It was this approach God would be with Him through the entire process.
Joshua did not have the slightest idea of what was going to happen or how it was going to place. He only knew he was to move forward and to trust in God. Joshua faced many things that stood before him which could intimidate him, but he still stood strong and courageous so he could be the example for the rest of the people he trusted God. Joshua was stretched, pulled, and tugged on by many things as they moved forward to occupy the promised land, and in the process he grew spiritually.
Acts records a similar process for Paul as he travels throughout the country. The people in every town were trying to warn him not to go back to Jerusalem for he would face hardship and even death. They tried to convince him he should not go, but he responded with he wanted to go to Jerusalem to witness for Jesus. Paul did not know what he was going to face or undergo, but he moved forward with strength and courage to stand tall for Jesus, and in the process, he was stretched in many ways, and he grew spiritually.
We today do not always know what is going to confronting us as we walk with Jesus. We do not know when Jesus will ask us to allow Him to stretch, pull, and tug on us to shape us into the person He wants us to look like. It is those moments of the stretching, pulling, and tugging it is hard to allow the process to keep going through the different methods of reshaping. We wonder what we will look like in the end because we always want to know the details of every step of the process. We also find it hard to accept just what we look like when it is all done.
The only thing we can hang onto is the fact God is still the same God as He was in the time of Joshua. He never changes His mind nor deviates from His goal. God reminded Joshua just what He had said in the past, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
If God is the same God for Moses, Joshua, Paul, and the rest of the people in the Bible He should be the same God for us. “Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” God knows just how much to stretch, pull, and tug us just before He fills us with His love to make us the person we need to be.
“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence; but as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 115:16-18
“Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven. And He has lifted up a horn for His people, praise for all His godly ones; even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him. Praise the Lord!” Psalm 148:13-14
Lord may we be strong and courageous in our walk with You. Amen
Blessings,