Stretched

by Michele Boy | December 12, 2024

Here is my countdown. 12 days to Christmas Eve. 
How are you feeling? Stressed? I know a lot of people including myself that are being pushed to their limits it seems. Where holiday music and lights were once comforting, they don’t seem to be enough. 
  What I realized is I am being stretched. Stretched in my faith, stretched in my relationships, stretched in reaching goals. 
  Stretched is uncomfortable. It’s awkward, it causes questioning like am I in the right place doing the right thing with the right people?
   Are you being stretched?
My daughter’s basketball season is half way done. Every single game has stretched her in one way or the other. 
A friend of mine pointed out yes, that’s what you want, progress!
She was right. 
  Look at your life, do you see progress?  
  I will tell you at home on the inside I am complaining, frustrated, and bummed because I don’t see my progress. 
   You have heard the term overnight success right? Well it is usually backed by twenty years of hard work behind the scenes. It’s being taken out of your comfort zone to create a better version of yourself, to bring you to a new level. 
  How does the oyster create a pearl? The invading irritant is covered in calcium carbonate. 
I spent an evening in a dark theatre watching a wonderful dance production. 
In the middle of it, a woman began snapping photos with her cellphone creating the most distracting bright light that could have easily ruined the evening. 
 I don’t like the fact that I wanted to tell her so. But I spent the evening continually refocusing on what mattered. Was I successful? Some.  
  If I look at my situations as poor me, what have I done wrong, why is this happening, I can quickly lose joy, confidence, and hope. I feel drained and discouraged. 
  Or I can smile and say thank you God for stretching me. Thank you that you see the potential for more. Thank you that you don’t want to leave me here. 
  Which one increases your faith? Which one increases your hope and power? Which motivates you to keep climbing that mountain? 
As the year wraps up, take a look around. Did you get uncomfortable? Try new things? Push yourself out of your comfort zone? Did life push you out of your comfort zone?
It has me! But can you stop for a minute and recognize maybe God is doing something great in you! 
  You know that bible verse we are pressed on all sides…2 Corinthians 4:8-10    We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 
  I’m not a fan of it. I don’t want to be pressed, pushed, persecuted. Who does? 
  What I want is easy peasy. But the truth is that wouldn’t help me grow. 
And while we can all say we have done enough growing, what about your kid? Don’t we push them to be better? 
  Navigating life comes with ups downs, twists, turns, and blindsides. How do we respond? 
Wouldn’t you like to think you are able to handle it all with grace? I would. But I don’t. 
What I am grateful for is His grace. And giving me His hope. When I don’t see the outcome I want, or it happening fast enough I have to trust that there is a purpose and a reason. And I have to believe! 
  John Maxwell said, “Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them.” 
Maybe I do a little of both. Maybe we all do. 
If you are in the season of being stretched, don’t give up. You are not alone.