When I was in 9th grade, I learned a valuable lesson. Like many boys that age, I thought it would be fun to shoot a rubber band at my family cat. I put that big band on the end of my index finger, pulled back and ….
Like a rubber band being stretched, vision produces a tension between where things ARE and where they COULD be. There’s tension because it’s easy to stay where you are and it’s hard to move forward. Paul tells the church in Philippi “And this is my prayer, that your love may abound still more and more…” (Phil. 1:9) This doesn’t happen automatically or without intentionality. Some people stretch things too far too fast and snap themselves or those around them. Others choose to reduce the tension by letting go and not moving forward. Living somewhere in that balance is where God wants us to be.Last Sunday we had many people come to lunch to hear what God did through Valley Church in 2016 and our vision for 2017. God’s work doesn’t NEED our puny efforts or depend on human manipulation. But we CAN act boldly and by faith know that He is working through us for His glory. Paul said, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13,14.
What happened with the rubber band and my cat? Well, the rubber band broke, snapped back, tore the retina of my right eye, and the cat walked away unscathed. It is a lesson I’m reminded of every day as I put my glasses on. Do I still shoot rubber bands? You bet I do… just more carefully!
Let’s press on in 2017! Let’s strain forward! Let’s stretch for “…still more and more…”!
Only in Christ,
Kurt