Many people do not want to ask God for a vision because they are already content with the little that they already have. They are already comfortable in their tiny nook that they are afraid to ask God for something beyond their reach. People like these think that they do not have the talents or abilities needed to accomplish something great. They feel that they are very limited. But in reality they are limited, not by their abilities, but by their distorted view of the purpose that God has for their lives. Although, there are those who are afraid to ask for a vision because they know that along with it comes a lot of “stretching”.
Mark 2: 22 says, “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins.” New wine can only be poured into new wineskins. Doing otherwise would mean ruining both the wine and the wineskin. Your vision is like the wine, and you are like the wineskin. A vision, when “poured” over someone who isn’t ready, can only bring more harm than good. Before you can start working on your vision, God has to “stretch” you first. Stretching can transform you, bringing about a renewed life in you.
Going through a time of stretching can be difficult. But once you get through it, you can say that it’s all worth the pain. I remember when I first had a vision for a doing church differently, I had to go through a stretching process.
First in my own thought life. I had to realize that while I couldn’t accomplish the vision through my own gifts and talents that God could accomplish it in spite of me. I was also stretched through the pain of the opinions of others. I was surprised at just how judgmental, cynical, and hurtful Christian people could be when they didn’t agree with my vision from God (in fact I received a similar comment just the other day on my church website – check out the comment by ‘Reba’ – http://zyxterchurch.com/?page_id=83). I was stretched in so many ways over the past few years and am continuing to be stretched, but the good news is that the stretching never breaks me and prepares me for even greater things!
Don’t be afraid of a stretching period with God, it is always the start of something great!
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