Stretch Out
by Elder Vernon Fox III
We live in a space and time where the idea of living outside of our comfort zone is highly rejected. Any and everything that causes us to experience even the slightest bit of discomfort is as they say, “for the birds”. In a culture where life is all about doing what feels good and makes you the happiest, it’s difficult to educate anyone on the idea of stepping out of the boat and attempting to figuratively walk on the water of life.
You see, walking on the water is unsure. It’s uncommon. It’s unsafe. But it is necessary if we intend to see more than we have ever seen and experience more than we have ever experienced, up until these moments we now exist in. When Jesus asked Peter to get out of the boat, he was challenging him to believe in a way that did not meet the standard of conventional thought. He wanted him to stretch himself in a way that he had not done before.
Stretching is a complex concept. It’s multi-dimensional in its meaning. To stretch can mean to reach or extend. It can also mean to bend. Either way, it means to do something that requires movement. It’s approached with intentionality and can’t just happen by chance. This means that a determination and self-accountable desire for change is also necessary. Well, when we are comfortable, there seems to be no need for this type of intentional change. That would require us to see change as more than just an adjustment. We would need to begin to see it as a transition, intentional movement that promotes progress.
Let’s dig deeper into the concept of stretching; I know a thing or two about this. I was an athlete from the age of 7, all the way up until I retired as a professional at age 30. One thing I knew about stretching was that it hurt. It was uncomfortable. It was always hard to understand how something that didn’t feel good could be good for you, but that’s exactly what it was. Stretching made me more flexible. It increased my mobility and even prevented me from a greater susceptibility to injury. It was hard to see that while I was agonizing through the pain of it, but isn’t that how life is? We spend our lives trying to avoid conflict, pain, and discomfort, not knowing that some of those things are the very tools that will promote our growth, versatility, development, and maturity.
God calls us to stretch out in faith in order to experience the growth he is calling us into. Our ability to be accessed and used at great levels, is directly connected to our willingness to be stretched and our open embrace of what wouldn’t make sense to most. James 1:2-4 encourages us to embrace the idea of “stretching” our trials as he states. To understand that they produce things in us that could not otherwise be developed. Things that lead to our complete wholeness. I paraphrased that some, but on purpose because I want you to go read it for yourself. As a matter of fact, read the whole chapter, read the whole book. Stretch. By the way, this is your growth and expansion, not mine or anyone else’s.
My prayer is that when we begin to see opportunities to stretch, as opportunities to be better than we have been, we will begin to pursue it. I’m not telling you to pursue pain. No one in their right mind goes around looking for ways to seek conflict or harm on themselves, but we must begin to understand that going around only seeking ways to feel good doesn’t work either. In the world of sports, we say “be comfortable being uncomfortable”. It has purpose, it has value. It’s the only way to experience more. It’s time for you to stretch out in this next season of your life.
Visit www.VERNONFOX.com to check out Vernon’s book Faith Habits: 21 days of Faith
