Stretched Out

Recently, I have been meditating on the truth that God is my Refuge. In my mind's eye I see a cave in a cliff when I hear "refuge." It's walls are strong and it is dry. It is not too cold or hot. It hides me, protects me and shelters me. It is mysterious and seems a little dangerous because the darkness beyond the entrance has no end, but it is safe and sure.

The other day when the kids got home from school I pulled them aside, gave them a cookie and said, "Listen, Daddy has had kind of a hard day today so, let's be extra considerate and try to make the rest of the day pleasant for him." Later that evening I heard Thomas ask Chad, "Daddy are you still stretched out?" God prompted my spirit and in the funny 7 year old word mix-up, He began to show me a great truth.

I get stressed-out when I stretch-out.

I imagine myself at the edge of the cave with arms extended, reaching outside of the opening. I am trying to grasp for what I see, to meet a need. Maybe it's comfort, approval, worth, justice, security or love. I stretch because I am unwilling to completely walk away from the safety I've come to know in the cave and as long as I still have a toe inside, I somehow feel justified in my reach. The things is, in my stretching I begin to feel stress and I don't like that. Stress and worry are exactly the things I am trying to avoid!

Stress is an indicator of a problem with my belief. It should prompt me to pull my heart arms back, turn around and begin to stretch my faith toward God. Instead of stretching further out of the cave or trying to grasping for more, which is often what we do to try to ease the stress, we need to stop and ask ourselves:

Why am I stressed?

What am I not believing or believing wrongly about myself, this world and/or God?

Why am I stretching to_____________ to meet this need, instead of stretching deeper into my Refuge?

We must stop stretching out and begin stretching in and go deeper into the seemingly dangerous, unknown mystery of our Refuge. That is what Christ made possible for us! That is what He gave us access to. We need spiritual understanding and discernment. We need a renewed mind. We must stop sitting at the entrance of the cave, trusting in what we can see! We can sit there, in a sick cycle of stretching and stressing our entire life, all the while justifying ourselves because we are still technically in the cave. Churches are full of stressed out, worried Christians who spend their entire lives in this stretch cycle. Yuck.

Christian, stand up! Stretch your legs, turn around and purposefully begin the journey to find the hidden secret wisdom and complete fulfillment that is waiting for you in the presence of God, our Refuge. The very mind of God is to be found if we but enter in. Go get it!

I Corinthians 2:6-16