So, I'm going to attempt blogging one more time, and hopefully this time it will stick.
As we're coming to the end of 2011, I've been looking back over the year in awe. This year seems like it has been going by in fast forward, and it has had its ups and downs; even its side to sides (if that's even possible?) Through it all, the Lord has been stretching me, molding me. and growing me to walk in a deeper relationship with Him. Growing up I remember hearing about Stretch Armstrong (I never had one though), and here recently the line from one of Mark Wills' songs continues to play in my head:
"I know the stuff they put inside Stretch Armstrong."
I know he means something different, but in some ways this year has brought me to places where I can truly say this.
In God's perfect plan, He has led me to study two books in Scripture through which He has taught me valuable truths about His goodness and my role in life's challenges. Ruth is a very short book in the Old Testament, but it is full of truths that still hold steady today. Naomi followed her husband, bringing along their two sons, to a foreign land in search of food. Over time she looses her husband and her two sons, leaving her with no family in a strange place. Returning to her home with a Moabite daughter-in-law, Naomi is broken and bitter feeling as if the Lord has dealt bitterly with her. What she doesn't yet see is that God has a purpose in her pain. The unfolding love story of Boaz and Ruth show the amazing plan that God had authored. We find Naomi broken and bitter at the beginning, but in the end she is full and happy, holding a baby in her arms; a baby that would later be the grandfather of David. God orders events, even the painful and hard to understand, for His glory and our good. You see though, the story doesn't end there. Centuries later the story finds it's climax in the man Jesus Christ. (Matt. 1:5)
James wrote his letter to believers who knew what hardship meant. I'm sure that James himself knew what it meant to endure trials and heartache. So, when he writes to believers and encourages them to "count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds"(James 1:2), we should take note. James understood that trials are a way of producing a deeper Christian character within us. When we, as believers, encounter various trials and hardships, they are an opportunity for growth. They should toughen us up and make us stronger. Just as an athlete trains and builds endurance, pushing toward a goal, believers follow a similar structure. Paul also uses this imagery in his letters. (for example: 1 Cor. 9:24-27) Most times we don't see the meaning in the pain, but as James says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all, without reproach, and it will be given him." (James 1:5) Wow! God is awesome! We may not understand, but He does, and we should be encouraged in knowing that it is for a purpose.
Hopefully, this all makes sense. (It does in my head, but my head is a whole different animal altogether!) Stretch Armstrong was meant to stretch and endure many abuses, returning to his original shape. We, as believers, will encounter times of stretching and pain, and we have the ability, in Christ, to endure. Will we, or better yet, should we return to our original shape though? If trials are meant to produce endurance and growth, will we remain the same? I know in the grand scheme of things, a year is not long at all, and hopefully I'll have many more years of stretching and growth. My prayer is that in all of life's heartaches and trials I look at the bigger picture and pray for eyes that see the end goal!
