Quickening Day 2 - Tension

On my desk I have a multicolored ball of rubber bands. You might think it was a neat way to organize office supplies but really it is more of a thinking tool. (Have you ever seen the movie A Few Good Men? Remember Tom Cruise's baseball bat? Now you got it!) Well that ball of rubber is made up of smaller circular pieces that we commonly use to hold things together. But think about the job of a rubber band. When it is relaxed, it doesn't do much. Only when it seems like it is about to snap in half, does it fulfill the purpose it was designed for. As I have heard others say, "tension is good."

Tension is the act of stretching or straining. Most usually when tension is applied to something, it will end up reshaping it. Now think about what James said, "consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)

Let me boil it down to this formula:
A challenge to your faith + An "I'm not giving up" attitude = Spiritual maturity and abundance

Remember these things about tension:
1. In order to fulfill your Divine purpose, tension must be applied to your life.
There have been many times when I have found myself begging God to release the tension on my life. To take away the strain. To cancel the call of following Him. But then I realize that He is using my life in the middle of the tension to accomplish the purpose that he has for me.

2. After a while, the tension will reshape you.
If a rubber band has been stretched around something long enough, it won't return to its exact relaxed state. After a while, elastic doesn't return to its original shape. (Just take a moment to think about some of those long term items of clothing in your top dresser drawer!) For elastic that is a bad thing. But for a follower of Jesus, it is a good thing. When your faith has been stretched and you have not thrown in the towel, once the tension is released, your faith won't return to the same size. It will have expanded! God is constantly doing that to us. Why? Because stretch and release will bring about expansion. Expanded ability to believe God for the impossible. Expanded joy that extends beyond the daily grind. Expanded influence to touch others with the Good News that Jesus saves.

My prayer is that God will use the tension found in all of our lives for His glory and for growing us to reach new heights in 2011.