Have you noticed feeling “stretched” lately?
Stretched too thin?
Stretched to have faith in humanity?
Stretched to believe we live in a “free” country?
Take a moment to imagine with me. This article will shine a hopeful light, helping you see that all moments are holy, depending on your elasticity.
So you’ve got a rubber band. The rubber kind that wraps around your produce. The one that you DO NOT want to use as a hair tie unless you’d like to lose some hair.
You are holding the rubber band with both hands, and you begin to pull in opposite directions. The rubber band stretches tight.
You know you are strong enough to snap the rubber band with two hands if you pull it apart too quickly from left to right.
With a few pulls and releases, that rubber band becomes more stretchy.
Overstretching or moving too quickly, in just a short time, the rubber band will lose its elasticity. It loses the ability to bind.
Do you feel like you’re more flexible or are you generally wound pretty tight?
Now, I want you to think of the last situation, or moment in life where you felt tested. An experience that stretched you yet didn’t break you. This is the right side of your rubber band, hold it, as if you were preparing to stretch it.
It’s the media blasting us with corruption and despair.
When a loved one says something they shouldn’t have.
The reckless driver in traffic.
A sip of coffee spilled on your shirt.
The high demands of life balance and work.
The left side of the rubber band you are holding is all of the good that is happening in your life. Make sure you hold on to that side extra tight.
The quality time spent with family and friends.
Walking, running, dancing, or exploring, forgetting for a moment that time exists.
The successful sips of coffee, the ones that didn’t spill.
A sunset, a moonrise, or a vast landscape that makes the world seem still.
That little sign or wonder that must have been from God.
The funny thing about two sides of a rubber band is you will never be able to tell which side you have in your hand. A rubber band was designed to bind on all sides, so no matter which direction it is stretched, the elasticity helps hold everything tight.
Just as a rubber band is more effective when there is tension on all sides, so is it that we should desire to have more tension in our lives.
The type of tension I’m referring to is a way of living that involves Christ. He lived in the moment as well as in eternity. He lived in humanness and He lived in His divinity. He lived with joy and He lived with suffering.
John 1:1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
We too can live in the suffering and be well when things aren’t “just fine”. We too can find peace when the storm is roaring outside. We have a God in Heaven who protects us when the enemy is trying to isolate us in our minds.
Though for some reason our humanness tries to often convince us otherwise. Our lack of trust in God’s elasticity leaves us too far stretched and unable to bind.
We often take advantage of the holy moments happening in our lives.
The fact of the matter is that the love of God is powerful and I believe Him more than ever when He says “You are mine.”
No matter how hard we try to stretch and manipulate our own life’s rubber band, God made us whole and we live in His hands.
All of these moments, the experiences, and the situations we withstand; are opportunities for us to stretch and expand.
I’m stretched to believe that all of our moments are holy is God’s eyes. When we learn to trust that God has a plan for this tension, it becomes easier to have more elasticity in our lives.
Your challenge this week is to acknowledge your elasticity. Are there places God can help you to loosen up and find more joy? Or maybe you’ve been stretched too far and need His help to restore.
Hold tight, let loose, and allow God to strengthen you.
Makenna Curtis
Local Pulse Community Writer
Holy Moments
