The Pain of Being Stretched

This past Saturday, we celebrated my son's 13th birthday. I'm amazed at how quickly the time has passed. It seemed like just yesterday that I watched him being born and now he's a teenager and I'm extremely proud of the young man that he is becoming. As a part of our celebration, we went to an indoor sports facility with some of his friends and played football. I realized very quickly how old and out of shape I'd become.

I used to be pretty athletic. I'd played sports most of my life but as I've gotten older, I've become less active and it has taken a toll. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't inept. I actually made a pretty good showing of myself. I didn't even embaress my teenage son. I threw a bunch of touchdown passes for our team. . . I looked good throwing the ball. But then a 14 year old kid who is fast as the wind, who runs all the time, decided to blitz me as the quarterback and suddenly my limited activity showed. I tried to run away and I almost slipped by him and then it happened. My foot slipped and down I went - someone watching said that I resembled Shamu crashing into the deep pool at Seaworld. I got up and kept playing and truthfully didn't feel too bad. . . until I stopped moving and it was time to come home. I started discovering pain in places I didn't even know had the ability to hurt. Every muscle, every tendon, every joint - everything was tight and it hurt to even move. And my first thought was - "I am too old to do this. I'm not gonna do that again."

Then I got to thinking. . . it was not playing football that had caused me to hurt so much. It was not running and throwing and diving and catching that was causing me to experience pain but rather the muscles in my body that had not been used in the fashion that they were created for were suddenly being stretched . And there is pain in being stretched.

Being stretched is never fun. It means that we're being pulled sometimes into positions or places that are uncomfortable. But for growth to occur, for us to become what we were intended, sometimes we've got to endure the pain of being stretched. Because as we're stretched we're given opportunity to grow. If I will remember the pain that I have experienced over the last few days and allow it to push me into getting in shape, I may not have to endure it again. Because I will have grown from the experience.

Do you feel as if you are being pulled in several directions? Do you feel like you are being stretched in directions you've never been before? Are you experiencing pain from being stretched? If so, consider the growth potentials that may be available in the midst of the pain. Let the muscles scream. Let the joints pop. Let the tendons ache. God may just have you where He wants you - being stretched into your destiny where His best can come to pass in your life.

Well - for now, I'm going to apply some Icy Hot to a sore thigh muscle . . . but hopefully the next time I won't need the old man creme. Maybe, just maybe, I will have grown from this experience and be closer to being in shape. Looking forward to talking to you again soon! God bless -- RP

Waiting In The Hall

It has been said, by many I'm sure, that when God closes a door, He opens another. While I'm confident of the truth contained in that statement, it is the period of time between the slam of one door and the whine of the hinge of the new one that requires the most patience and can create the most frustration. It is the period of time when you are waiting in the hall that will truly prepare you for the new opportunities that lie just on the other side of the soon to be opening door.

I've been thinking this week about the life of Joseph. An amazing man with an even more amazing story. God had an amazing plan in store for his life but in order to bring it to pass, he had to go through various steps of preparation along the way. Joseph knew he was destined for greatness. He knew that God had leadership in his future. He knew that he was intended to rule and reign but he didn't know when and he didn't know where. Joseph was so convinced of his future that he began to share his destiny with his brothers - only they didn't want to hear about it. Armed with a dream and a belief in his future, Joseph promptly finds himself thrown into a pit, sold into slavery and his obituary written and delivered to his father. SLAM! The door shuts.

Joseph arrives in a foreign land, forced to learn a language he has never spoken, but when he hears the squeak of the hinge of a new door beginning to open, he seems to understand that his time in the hallway has been well worth it. Joseph goes to work for Potiphar, the head of the Egyptian Secret Service and he thinks that he has arrived at his God-given destiny. Only the same deceptive spirit that he found amongst his brothers is still working in Egypt as he is falsely accused and unfairly imprisoned in an Egyptian jail. SLAM! The door shuts!

After spending a long time in solitary confinement, Joseph gets some new cell mates. A butler and a baker are brought to the prison to spend some time and Joseph can hear the door starting to open. These men are from the palace. They serve the Pharaoh. Surely these men will be able to not only hear his story but provide him with an audience with someone who has enough authority to overturn his conviction. Joseph interprets their dreams for them - one is destined for a return to his job and the other is gonna be executed . . . but Joseph will surely get out of prison after helping his new found friends. Only they forget about him. SLAM! The door shuts yet again.

Finally - God gives Pharaoh a dream that no one can interpret. His former cell mate remembers a time when he'd had a dream and Joseph had provided him an interpretation. He shares this information with Pharaoh and suddenly a new door begins to creak open - the door of destiny that Joseph had dreamed about so many years earlier. Joseph rises to second in command of all Egypt and he provides a economic and agricultural solution in the midst of famine. And the door swings WIDE open and Joseph realizes God's dream for his life.

As great as Joseph's destiny was - I would say it was the lessons learned in the pit and in the prison that truly prepared him for the palace. So many of us want God to open the door to the palace straight away but He knows ultimately what is best. He knows that we aren't prepared for the palace and so He leaves us out in the hall to teach us and to prove us and to prepare us for the pinnacle of our destiny. Sometimes, we have to be betrayed and placed in the pit. Sometimes, we may even be lied about and sent to prison. Sometimes, we may think we are prepared and yet we discover we've been forgotten about and left to remain in the hall a little longer. Don't let the frustration of the hall destroy you. Rather, just understand that the hall is designed to prepare you for the moment when the new door opens.

As you wait in the hall, what is God trying to teach you today? Is he teaching you patience. Maybe He's defining your character. Maybe He's purifying your heart. Perhaps He's perfecting your skills or enhancing your sensitivity to His spirit. Maybe he's just trying to make you more thankful. Whatever it is - don't allow the hall to become your coffin. Understand that you are only there for a time - and if you will just be patient, God's best is yet to come. He didn't birth a dream in you to allow it die in the pit or in the prison. He's got a place in the palace designed for you.

God bless each of you - during this week of Thanksgiving - take the time to count your blessings and be thankful for for His hand being at work in your life. God's best is just ahead and His doors are about to open. I hear the creak of the hinge and the turn of the knob. Just be patient - amazing things are in store. Love you all --- RP

Finding My Place

Have you ever spent hours and hours putting together all of the pieces to a really large puzzle and just as you are finally finishing you realize that. . . there's a piece missing? How frustrating . . . aggravating. . . disappointing . . . agonizing. That feeling that you get when you realize that all the time, energy, effort - it was all in vain because the picture that you were trying to complete can not be finished. The work that you were trying to do cannot be done because one piece was out of place. And isn't it true, that if there is a single piece missing - we don't notice the picture. We don't notice the WHOLE - instead we notice the HOLE. One missing piece makes a huge difference.

True in puzzles - even truer in the kingdom of God. God has placed within each of us abilities and gifts and amazing talents that were designed to be utilized within the kingdom. But many times for various reasons there are HOLES within the fabric of the kingdom of God. Maybe it's because we don't know what our gifting and our talents are. Maybe it's because we don't see what we bring to the table as needed or wanted. Maybe it's because we've never been asked or maybe it's because we don't see ourselves as worthy of a piece of the puzzle. For others, it's because we see ourselves as too busy or too fearful or too unprepared. Whatever the case is, there are Christians throughout the kingdom of God who are living lives that are unproductive and unfulfilled because they've yet to discover their place, their spot on the puzzle.

Paul described the kingdom as a body. Christ is the head but we are individual members of the body fitly joined together so that every joint, every bone, every muscle, every organ is needed and supplies for the needs of all the others. Therefore, when we see ourselves as part of the body, we understand that our function is necessary and needed whether it is small or great. Because the elbow can't say to the bicep muscle, I have no need of you. The femur bone can't say to the big toe, I have no need of you. The nose can't say to the ear - your function is not important. Nor can the mouth say to the hand - of what purpose do you serve? We are one body joined together for HIS purpose and we desperately need every part. Oh, we can survive without certain members of the body. . . you can live with some missing parts. BUT the body will never be what it could be until every piece is in its proper place.

The key to finding your place in the kingdom is to first recognize and realize that YOU are a vital and important piece of the puzzle. Without you, God's kingdom would be less that it could be with you serving in it. There is no small role nor large role - only opportunities to make Jesus look great. When we serve in the kingdom, we do so by utilizing those things that God has placed in our life. And so - you are an important piece of the kingdom. Determining your place is not always simple. Sometimes we're not quite sure how to be most effective in the kingdom. To truly determine your place, you just have to get started. Sometimes when you're putting together a puzzle, some pieces get tried in numerous places. You twist it and turn it and attempt to position in various places. Sometimes it's just a little bit off. Sometimes it may even fit but the pattern doesn't fit that section of the puzzle. Sometimes it doesn't fit at all and you move on to the next spot. But eventually, if you're willing to try, you discover the tailor-made spot for the puzzle piece that is in your hand.

There's a man in the book of Acts - his name is John Mark. When Paul left on one of his early missionary journeys, Barnabas and John Mark were traveling together with the great Apostle. At some point on the journey, there arose a disagreement between Paul and John Mark. Apparently John Mark was homesick and really wanted to return to Jerusalem and Paul great angry and frustrated with him. So Barnabas took John Mark and Paul found a man by the name of Silas and they parted ways. Years go by - Barnabas and John Mark, with anointing on their life had discovered all sorts of areas of ministry for them to thrive in. And well, Paul & Silas had some wild stories to tell themselves. All had discovered their place in the kingdom although the original places they tried didn't quite seem to fit. Late in life, the Apostle Paul sends a letter and in his letter, he says, "Tell John Mark to come to me because I have need of him." The man that the Apostle Paul had sent away in shame - suddenly was in need. Sometimes, we don't understand why things happen the way they do. Sometimes we don't understand why hurts come into our life or experiences happen that don't make any sense. Maybe you tried to accomplish a ministry - you tried to serve in the kingdom and it just didn't work out the way you thought it would. Recognize that, just like John Mark, your ministry is of value - your place is needed. It just may be that the experience that you are having to go through right now, is designed to place things in your character that will make you better able to serve and to a blessing in the future.

Why do we have hurts? Why does pain come? Why does bad things happen to us? Sometimes we wonder, if we are supposed to be a part of the body of Christ, why do we have to face struggle. There's no easy answer to that question. But I do know, that struggle always bring strength and your ability to touch the lives of others is improved by your opportunity to share your experiences. God never wastes a hurt. If it happened to you, you can rest assure that at some point, you will have a chance to assist in the healing process of someone else who in the future will go through the pain you experience today --- if you're willing to find your place and get right in the middle of it.

If God has called you and brought you into His Kingdom - He intends to utilize those things that He has placed in your life. Spiritual Gifts, Abilities, Personality Traits, Experiences, the things that you love to do - they are all placed in your life by GOD - and He will utilize them to minister and to touch the lives of others - if you're willing to find your place.

The most unfulfilled Christian is an unserving Christian. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure it's possible to be an "unserving Christian". To be like Christ means to serve - and I want to find the fulfillment of serving in the body of Christ. Find your place in the puzzle - get plugged in and discover the joy of serving and living your life in such a manner that you impact all those around you. What is it God is asking you to do? What is it that you would do for the kingdom of God if you knew that you couldn't fail? Today - begin looking for those opportunities to plug your piece into the puzzle. . . Find your place and get right in the middle of it - and discover the joy that only Jesus can bring.

Love all of you - pray for Davina and I - we will be moving over the next few weeks and we are so excited to soon be on location with our wonderful church family at Church on the Move. We are endeavoring with all that we have to find our place and hopefully help others find their place as well in the kingdom of God. Until next time - even if it's through trial and error - look for ways to serve in the kingdom and to impact our world! -- God bless - RP