Stressing vs. Stretching
As many of you know, Jill, Pastor and Lori’s daughter, headed off to ORU to spread her wings and expand her education. In a Facebook post, after stating that 2019 was a year of insanity, she said the following, “It’s easy to be thankful for the many blessings I have received, but I’ve learned to be thankful for the stressing as well. By stressing, I mean more like stretching. Being stretched and pulled in ways I haven’t been before forces growth. It makes me practice being strong in ways I haven’t been before. It makes me practice having faith in ways I haven’t before.” To be stressed is to be stretched…that my friend is wisdom…wisdom I didn’t have at her young age.
If we could all learn at an early age that the things that stress us in life, are the very things that stretch us and make us stronger. I’ve got 30 years on Jill and I can tell you that at her age, if I was stressed about something, it only had a negative effect on me. When we are continuously stressed without a saving knowledge of Jesus and the peace He can offer, then all we’re doing is setting ourselves up for physical problems like high blood pressure and emotional problems like depression or anxiety.
But as Jill mentioned, when we can see the positive in the pain, we gain growth and maturity; we realize our strength through His, and our faith is accelerated and multiplied, able to handle the next hurdle. Think of the heartache that could be averted if our children grew up knowing that even though life is not easy, through relationship with Jesus, they grow stronger with every conflict and smarter with every combat.
If you’ve learned this lesson for yourself, and you have young children, do them a favor and pass it on to them. If you’re older and new in your relationship with Jesus, take your lead from Jill and start seeing your stress as an opportunity for stretching growth. Know that God is giving you a chance to practice your faith, to trust Him each and every day, with each and every situation. To see blessing amidst the chaos and insanity is truly a lesson worth learning, a blessing in and of itself.