Stretch Before Strength

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You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1287. Today's episode is called Stretch Before Strength. Hey there. We're the Aleskies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.

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That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everyone, my name is Lauren Alessi, and thank you for tuning in this morning. It's gonna be a fun week. We're talking about stretching your faith, growing your capacity, but at the same time becoming stronger. When I kind of think about this image of becoming stronger, stretching your capacity, I can't help but think of like, exercising and working out. I really actually enjoy working out. I know that sounds crazy, I don't love running, but I do enjoy working out. I enjoy going to the gym, taking my time there. But something that's really important when it comes to exercising and increasing strength is stretching.

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And a lot of people will let you know if they've, you know, are trainers or exercise, you know, fiends or whatever, that if you don't stretch before or after you work out, it can actually increase injury because stretching is an important part of gaining muscle. And so that's why I'm like, I emphasize and I'm obsessed with stretching every single time because one, it's just nice and relaxing, but it's an important part of exercising.

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So we're going to talk about that today, about how God, he wants us to become stronger spiritually, mentally, emotionally. But before he does that, he's going to use a stretching in our faith to show us things he's never shown us before, to use us in ways he's never used us before. Our verse of the day is 2 Corinthians,

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15. I have probably read this a thousand times and I don't know why this verse hasn't stuck out to me, but it's super cool. I hope it blesses you like it blesses me. And it says this.

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Our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand.

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The ESV version says it like this. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others, but our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged.

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Super cool verse. I've never that just like never sat with me before, and I've probably Skimmed over it several times. But just our hope is that as your faith continues to grow, as your faith is growing, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand also.

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So God here is calling us to expand even before we feel ready. And not just that God wants us to expand not just our faith, but our sphere of activity, what we do. This verse reminds me of. There's like a meme, and it's really funny. It talks about how when you bring. Like when you go to work and you bring a really great idea to the table, and then they're like, great, you can take that on.

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And like, now you have a project that you have to take over for the next six months. And you're like, why did I mention my idea? But sometimes it's like that with God. You have big dreams, you have big ideas, and God's like, great, now you take care of that, and you lead the charge of that for the next year, for the next two years. And you're like, what? I just kind of wanted you to do it for me. So God wants to use our big dreams, our big ideas to stretch us, to expand us, even before we feel ready for it.

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Because God sees our future. He doesn't just see what our present limits are, our present limitations. He sees our whole future. So before increase, before just the blessing, before the gift of all of our answered prayers, we have to stretch our faith. We have to stretch our capacity even beyond what feels comfortable.

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And to be honest, that is what stretching is. Stretching is never comfortable. And if you try to touch your toes and you're sore or you're not someone who could, you know, just naturally touch your toes, that is uncomfortable, you know. Or if you try to do some crazy yoga stretch, and you're not into yoga, it's uncomfortable. But that's what God wants to do in us in order to strengthen our capacity in our emotional life, in our mental life, in our spiritual life, God is making room for more. In your life, you were made for more. More influence, more character, more purpose. So why is this verse so good?

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This verse highlights that as faith grows, so does your capacity, your capacity to influence. Maybe that's in your church and your family, your capacity to lead, your capacity to step into more.

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And remember, he's not just doing it randomly. God just isn't going to bless you randomly. God's going to stretch your faith more. And then through that, your capacity will grow.

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He grows it through deepening your faith. And as you trust in him, then as you trust in him, he entrusts to you so let's pray Lord we sense right now that Lord as we dream for more because we were made for more God we sense you stretching us and Lord we know it's not always easy but Lord we trust you Lord we just pray to expand the borders of our heart, our thinking and our faith God and just help us with the uncomfortableness of it all Lord Help us to not hold back when you are calling us to grow Lord and strengthen us Lord when you are enlarging us God in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day.

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If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong but your love for Jesus is stronger.