Stretch!

 We've all done it. We're all supposed to do it. We should do it every single day. We should do it before and after exercise. You may be wondering what it is I'm talking about. I'm talking about stretching! Stretching is good to do when you've been sitting down for a long time. You can wake up those muscles so they don't get stiff. Stretching is also good before and after exercise because it warms up the muscles and prevents injury from happening. In today's Bible story found in Matthew 12:9-13, we see stretching had to take place. At the time, Jesus was at the church. While at the church, He saw a man with a shriveled hand (v.9-10). The word shriveled means to shrink. In other words, the man's hand was small in size. But I love how Jesus handled the situation! He didn't ask the man questions or judge him because of his abnormalities. Instead, He showed compassion to him and wanted him to be healed. Now at the time this was going on, there were church leaders nearby watching and questioning whether Jesus should heal the man or not. It never fails. Someone is always watching and at least one always has something to say! Jesus didn't let that stop him from healing the man though. He gave the man one instruction, "Stretch out your hand." As soon as the man stretched out his hand, it was restored (v.13). His hand was like new and no longer small as it once was! In the physical sense when we stretch during an exercise, we reach out. We may reach out for our toes or raise our hands high above our head or across our body. Now let's think about our personal lives for a moment. What has shriveled up in our life and needs to come back to life and to a normal size? What do we need to reach for? Is it hope? Love? Peace? A goal or dream? Contentment? Being grateful? Strength? Joy? Purpose? It may be in your life, but it's barely hanging on and you see it very little. Like the man in the story, we can stretch out. Stretch out for joy again (Nehemiah 8:10). Stretch out for peace again (Philippians 4:7). Stretch out for love again (Jeremiah 31:3). Stretch out for dreams and goals that you have given up on (Jeremiah 29:11). Stretch out and be grateful again (I Thessalonians 5:18). Stretch out for strength again (Ephesians 6:10). Stretch out for purpose again (Ephesians 2:10). Stretch out as far as you can so you can wake up and bring back to life those places that shriveled up in your life. You're not too old and you're not young. You haven't messed up so bad that you can't stretch out and be made new again (Isaiah 43:19). If we would all be honest, we all have at least one area (or more!) we could stretch out for more. For me, peace is something as my mind can be all over the place and 10 steps ahead of where it should be. I'm learning (it's a process!) to be present in the moment and take one day at a time. I also need to keep stretching for future goals as I tried to achieve some things in the past and it didn't work out and I got discouraged. I have to remind myself that at least I tried and I can't let the "no" keep me down and from trying again. Whatever you need to stretch for today, do so. We can stretch out as often and as much as we need to. Just like stretching physically should be a part of our daily routine, let's make stretching for what God wants us to have a daily part of our routine too. Both are important and will keep us healthy on our journey.