The Beautiful Stretch.

Have you ever felt seasons of crushing, pressing, discomfort and “the stretch”? You may even be going through it right now.

Often during these seasons we can ask “will this ever stop”, but from my experience of enduring seasons like this and I’m sure you can testify too, that all things work together for good. And it’s often what’s on the other side of these trying seasons that make it all worthwhile. We truly do worship the great Potter and he is always fashioning us to hold more of His glory. As clay in the Potters hand, if we rest and trust that He knows what He’s doing, we often leave these seasons ready to hold and steward what God wants to entrust to us.

Imagine all the wildest dreams and desires you have for your business and your life, often these God given dreams involve stewarding wealth, influence, time and talent. Like any good Father, God in his infinite wisdom will never entrust us with things He knows we are not mature enough to handle or perhaps will ruin us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. It’s in our best interest to trust Him and His timing and His process. He’s never early and He’s never late. He and His timing are perfect.

I have learned to play close attention to what rises to the surface of my heart and mind during these times of pressing and discomfort. These are often the things that God is inviting me to let go, give to Him and in exchange, receive His true joy, victory and freedom.

Stretching and uncomfortable seasons are like the process of making wineskin (the leather type bags in bible times for storing and transporting wine)

A new wineskin was cut to shape, sewn and turned inside out (this process required maximum expertise of the craftsmen) The craftsmen would then blow hard into the leather to inflate it and then with the flick of a wrist turn it onto a rod. It would then be sealed with resin that had been heated and then applied. Once the wineskin is in shape, before storing wine, the wineskin must be heated, rubbed, inflated, rinsed with water, filled with wine for 5 days and then the wine is discarded. Because historic wineskin was organic not plastic, it takes preparation and maintenance by the owner.

Pay attention to the process you just read above, do you too find yourself in situations that make you feel like you are being cut, turned inside out, stretched, heat is being applied, filled with good things to then only be discarded?

Our lives are like these wineskins, these vessels used to store and transport wine.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all share a story of Jesus’ parable of new wine and new wineskins. In response to accusing questions of the religious Pharisees, Jesus shares an analogy that new wine can only be poured into new wineskin. If it’s poured into old wineskins, both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined.

Are we old wineskins that represent old covenant religion, laws and self-righteousness or are we new wineskins that represent new covenant, grace and His robes of righteousness?

Jesus is always making things new. As we give him our heart and ask him to create in us a clean heart, and to turn our rigid, legalistic hearts of stone, into soft and pliable hearts of flesh, there will always be a fresh renewing. He will continually transform us so he can always pour more into us.

I encourage you, if you are experiencing circumstances that are crushing, pressing and stretching, God the master Craftsmen is preparing you as a new wineskin to hold the next, new thing He wants to entrust to you.

Don’t fight the process, yield to His perfect way, even when it doesn’t make sense to you.  He is faithful, we can trust Him and He is always leading us into freedom. Leaving behind old ways, mindsets, religion and self-righteousness. If we humbly lean into his perfect plan for our lives, we will see the heat is not hurtful, it’s purifying.

A great worship song that beautifully articulates this journey of ‘the stretch’
ready to hold more of His glory.