IS GOD STRESSING YOU?

Is God Stressing you? In other words, does it feel like God is not getting you out of a stressful situation you’re in? Is he just allowing you to sit in your stress?

Great! What do I mean, Great? Please allow me to explain myself.

For most of us, when we think of STRESS, we automatically associate it with negativity.

Too much required, there’s not enough time or resources, too heavy of a lift, not worth the effort, unfair treatment, I’m being targeted, unreasonable expectations, I can’t, why me, are all common thoughts that lead us to stress.

Stress is our reaction to physical, emotional, and intellectual changes or challenges.

Truth is that stress can differ from person to person. What might be stressful for one, could be a breeze for another. Hence, stress is not the big bad boogy man we think it is.

Stress is seen as negative, because we view the situation or circumstance as negative.  Let me say that again.

We view stress as something negative because we feel the situation, we’re in, is negative/ wrong / unfair / too much / more than we can bear, and thus we think negative thoughts about what we deem to be a negative situation or circumstance.

What if I told you, There Is Good Stress. A good purpose behind being stressed.

It’s called Eustress, a stress that produces benefits.

Stress can boost your performance and increase your alertness.

Stressing causes Stretching! And when we Stretch, we Grow!

God places us in Eustress, stressful situations to benefit us.

Many times, we want God to improve our situation. But God wants to improve Us, in our situation. So that we will be prepared for any situation, now or in the future.

Some like to say I’m too Blessed to Be Stressed. But God says we are Blessed because we are Stressed. Blessed by the Stress, is more like it.

Look at what David realized from one of the many stressful situations he found himself in.

“…you have enlarged me and caused me to grow when I was in stress/distress; you had mercy on me and heard my prayer.” Psalm 4:1

David saw how he grew in his faith in God when he was in stress/distress.

David learned to benefit from stress. To Exercise his faith when he faced Stress in his life.

The word enlarge means to make bigger. David said Lord you made me bigger.

Lord you made me grow up in some areas of my life by going through what I went through. Many of us might have that same testimony.

It was David who also said, though I travel through deaths valley, I will not fear. Because you O Lord are the shepherd that leads and guides me through it all.

David saw the benefits in his stress. “All things work together for my good”.

Jabez was another person who asked God to enlarge him.

“Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain” 1 Chronicles 4:10

Many people have thought that when Jabez asked for an enlarged territory he was only speaking of land and resources. In other words, he wanted more stuff.

But why did he reference his person, his body, his fears? It was more than land.

He was referring to his character. Grow me up O Lord so that I can be ready for the blessing when you send it to me. Please let your hand be with me!

I don’t need to get ready, I want to be ready O Lord for my blessing.

Stress me O Lord, stretch me O Lord, that I may be big enough for my blessing.

Our life must be stretched to fit Gods plan for Us. He is a Big God, with Big Plans.

We must develop traits like a rubber band.

A rubber band’s greatest worth is seen only after it is stretched.

God stretches us to make us more useful in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Stretching means Trusting. Sometimes it’s painful and scary. It creates tension.

But stress and tension are what create balance. It holds everything together in its proper place.

Some stuff would be moving all over the place, if it were not for stress and tension holding it in place.

The noun tension, has its Latin roots in tendere, which means to stretch.

A rubber band isn’t much unless it is stretched. We can only achieve our full potential when we allow God to stretch us to our limits.

Stretching means trusting and reaching out to God instead of letting go and quitting.

We must think of ourselves as trapeze artists.

Swing out and stretch out to catch Gods hand as we fly through the air by faith.

We have to stretch to catch the next opportunity God has for us.

We must be willing to come out of our comfort zones, to Risk being Blessed.

Yes, I said WE. I’m scared right now even as I’m writing these words.

I know I have a few immediate jumps to make in my life.

I can either jump ship or jump out to reach for Gods unchanging hands.

I know He won’t let me fall. He can’t! But that still doesn’t mean that I’m not afraid.

Maybe that’s why we see him tell folks all the time “Fear Not”.

He’s trying to assure us that he won’t let go. We won’t fall! We Will Grow!

Stretching is good for us. It’s good to be stretched in all aspects of life.

When we stretch a muscle, we get stronger. When we stretch our bodies, we become more flexible. When we stretch our minds, we grow in knowledge.

The same can be said for us spiritually too. When we stretch our faith, we see God do things we find it hard to believe.

If we ever want to see a hard to believe blessings just say Lord stretch me.

God will always stretch us to do more, not only for His Kingdom, but for ourselves as well.