Stretched

One of my main prayers especially over the last two years has been asking God to use me. I had come to a point in life a while back where I was tired of fighting.  Tired of hurting.  Tired of trying to be in control.  I genuinely just wanted to surrender everything to Him to do whatever He wanted with my life...even if it scared the crap out of me or even if I didn't feel like I had the ability to do it.

I am Yours, God.  Use me in whatever way You want.  Have Your way, God.  Let Your will be done in my life. 

It's kind of funny. When you start praying those kinds of prayers and really mean them, God has a way of swooping in, taking you out of the kiddie pool, and throwing you into the deep end...in a good way.  He started plopping opportunities into my lap right and left.  Things that I think might have been open to me all along, but I was too scared, too insecure, or probably a lot of times...just too flat out self-absorbed.  But once I actually started being open to at least trying, making myself available, stepping out in faith, and really trusting God with every detail, He has answered those prayers in ways I never imagined.  And believe me, it's been all God!  He has stretched me and grown me in ways I never thought possible, and I've found incredible LIFE and JOY as I've walked closer with Him and really sought His leading.

At the same time, we all know how our relationship with God tends to ebb and flow.  I can tell you that while I've experienced some intensely deep and intimate times with God these last couple of years, I've also gone through those desert places.  The passion starts to fade.  Routine takes over.  You just start going through the motions.  Your faith becomes stagnant.  Apathetic.  You stop growing.  You're just treading water and not really going anywhere.

More than anything, I still want God to just flat out use me.  It's my prayer that I recognize those times when I'm drifting, and I subsequently renew my desire to be stretched by God and run hard after Him. 

I just finished reading Craig Groeschel's book: It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It.  While it's bent toward church leadership, there's tons of take-aways for our everyday Christian walk...no matter what role we may serve within the church body.  Craig closes out the book with some thoughts that really hit home with me: 

Do you have it?  Be honest.  Do you have that something special that is from God and for God?  Do you think more about pleasing Him than strategizing how to grow your church?  Do you desire His pleasure more than the applause of men?  Are you more concerned with His opinion of you than with the opinions of people?

When you become comfortable in your relationship with God, you'll lose it.  (By comfortable, I mean complacent, lazy, and distracted.)  In many ways, comfort is an enemy of faith.  Hebrews 11:6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God."  Jesus pleaded with His followers, knowing the time was short, reminding them always to "be on guard!  Be alert!" (Mark 13:33).  That's why we'll constantly want to ask God to stretch us.

You have more in you than you realize.  God has put more in you than anyone knows.  Ask Him to stretch you.  Then let Him.

God wants to stretch you.  He wants you to live by faith, to believe Him.  It will mean putting yourself in new environments.  Experiencing something new.  Something different.

Ask God to stretch you.  Then follow His direction.  He might direct you to change your leadership style or the way you preach.  He might challenge you to go to a third-world country and leave behind part of your heart.  He might ask you to give like you've never given before.  He might lead you to do something your closest friends believe is foolish and impossible.  He might introduce you to a new church leader who will rock your comfortable world.  Or maybe to a lost person who is far from God.

Let Him stretch you.  Attempt what others say can't be done. You have more in you than you realize.  God has put more in you than anyone else sees.  Ask God to stretch you.  As He does, you might start to find it again.