hi it's Jennifer LeClaire you probably know me from books like firming faith or
the making of a prophet or the spiritual warriors guide to defeating Jezebel I'm
also the an editor at charisma magazine so you probably read my columns there
but this is one of them I want to talk to you about this is going on in my life
right now and I know many of yours because of the response that I've
received just from some of the comments I've made on Facebook so I want to talk
to you today about when God is stretching you beyond your natural
limits okay anybody feel like God is just stretching them I mean come on I
know God stretching me and it's a good thing I want to take a closer look at
this process at what's going on here and and how we can cooperate with the grace
of God in this stretching okay I can take a natural example from the gym I
mean I go to the gym several times a week spend several hours there because
you know as a writer as an author as a minister I spend a lot of time sitting
down and it spend a lot of time eating in fellowship and so I've got to get in
the gym I've got to exercise my physical body so I can stay lean and healthy for
my journey and so you know I spend a lot a lot of time lifting heavy weights and
doing a lot of reps and doing some weird crazy exercises you see on shows like
The Biggest Loser where you know anyway you know sometimes though the point is
is I forget to stretch I don't really like stretching it's like I'm in a hurry
okay I just took all this time to do this now I need to get back home and you
wrap up some stuff I need to get back home and pray to get back home and call
somebody whatever and I forget to stretch that's not a good thing not at
all you know sometimes the soreness when I don't stretch it it gets sore anyway
but the sword is what I don't stretch makes me end up wanting to skip the next
workout because my muscles you might say they grow a little weary in well-doing
okay my muscles are like no we're not going back today just skip it right but
I think I found myself in God's gym have you ever found yourself in God's gym
lifting heavy spiritual weights and doing all manner of strange you know
exercises and you know I in God's gym right now and maybe
probably if you're watching this video you probably are too
it's something that with God's gym you don't have to worry about the stretching
part you don't have to worry about making time for that because God you
know he does the stretching for you and I tell you that sometimes that
stretching can be just about as painful on our souls as the the natural the
physical stretching is on a sore muscle I mean sometimes I feel like I don't
know I know I'm dating myself but many of you have seen even the the reruns of
course when I watch them they were reruns to of The Addams Family you know
you had that guy lurch the big tall guy he'd be down in the dungeon and you'd be
on the stretching machine and you hear the bones cracking you know he's
stretching that's what I feel like just about right now being stretched just
being stretched but see God will stretch you further than you can go you don't
worry about that but what you do have to do is you have to yield to it you have
to understand the purpose in it the purpose in God stretching you it is to
give you enough spiritual capacity for the next thing he has ordained for you
to do see God has a purpose and a plan and a calling and a destiny for you but
you're not going to get there unless you stretch yourself unless you allow God to
stretch you so apparently like I said I'm not the only one going through the
stretching because I posted a a question on my Facebook page facebook.com slash
prophetic books facebook.com slash prophetic books and I hooked up with me
there because I'm putting up cool stuff all the time and we have great
discussions on the page but I put up this question is god stretching anybody
else or is it just me you know and I mean I got thousands of responses I mean
people were saying everything from you know I feel like a rubber band to a I'm
being stretched and pulled like taffy to hey you know what just called me Gumby
and you know Gumby was it maybe before your time for mine too but it was a
little animated character that she was he was rubber he was stretchy so behind
these cutesy quips beyond these cutesy quips are folks who are walking by faith
and trying to cooperate with God and so the question becomes is he
begins to shake us and and break us and mold us and and make us into the image
of Christ transform us into the image of Christ how are we supposed to respond
how do we best cooperate with the grace of God well the first thing we have to
do is separate godly from ungodly pressure okay because sometimes pressure
compton' it's just like I can't even get into it but I look around my life right
now and there's so many good things happening but pressure comes from good
things you know there's this thing called stress and there's the you stress
and distress and you stress EU stress EU stre SS is the stress that comes when
good things are happening and distress of course the stress that comes with bad
things that are happening was it's kind of the same with pressure
you've got good pressure the pressure that comes along with new opportunities
and and things you've got to rise up and you've got to gird up and you've got to
you know be ready prepared into extra study to extra you know time in the word
do extra time in prayer learn how to deal with people on another level and
this is good pressure there's also this this bad pressure so you've got this
Holy Ghost pressure coming from within and then you've got pressure from people
places and things coming from the outside and some of that demonic
pressure so you've got God pressure people pressure and demonic pressure all
right you've got pressure all around sometimes and I found that in the
stretching process when God is stretching you that's especially true
there's just pressure everywhere now here's the deal it's easy enough to
resist God in the name of resisting the devil because you just don't like what's
happening and you're just you know hide everything I bind that devil and it's
like okay it wasn't the devil that was God God is trying to stretch you God is
trying to teach you something God is sending something along allowing
something to come along rather maybe sending something along a to cause you
to respond in a godly way he's trying to build character in me he's trying to
build character in you okay he's never going to be done it's not like okay your
perfect character now and in the next 30 years you're going to float doesn't work
that way we go through seasons
stretching we go through seasons of trials we go through seasonal and
mountaintop and we go through seasons in the valley that's just the way it works
so here's the deal I've seen other people see some people care resisting
resisting God when it was the devil but then I've seen other people just
laying down and let the devil walk all over them and they're like well you know
God is you know it's that Calvinistic view of you know God I'm not going to
resist it because God sent it well you know God may be permitting it but that
doesn't mean that it's his will for us it causes us to sometimes when the enemy
comes against us when he allows the enemy to come against us we're supposed
to many times rise up and and push back in wage war in any case were to resist
anything demonic in our lives we resist the devil and he has to flee so so don't
do that don't let the devil walk all over you learn how to discern what's
happening stay prayerful ask the Holy Spirit to show you what's of him and
what's moving against his will for your life because here's the deal the enemy
during these times of stretching will come in and you say like he sees you're
already stretched you're already being challenged and I'll say well this is a
good opportunity this is a good opportunity to come in with little you
know adversity little warfare maybe they'll just think it's God you know
seriously so resist the gut resist the devil he'll flee don't resist God pray
ask the Holy Spirit what's going on here he's not trying to hide the truth from
you if you seek the truth you're going to do what find the truth he's not
trying to hide it from you I mean if you're in the middle of a
raging battle and here's feeling like you're gonna slip off the cliff at any
moment God's there holy spirits our comforter he's our he's our advocate our
intercessor he leads us and guides us into all truth
okay so he'll tell you what you need to know to get through it now here's
another thing I've learned about pressure whether it comes from the hand
of God or whether it comes from the enemy if you just keep pressing through
the pressure not only will you gain strength right because the resistance
you gain strength you know that from the gym right you know you're not going to
gain strength if you're lifting a two-pound dumbbell when you
really able to lift much more its that resistance is that pressure that builds
strength if you just keep pressing through that pressure you'll build
strength and then that pressure will eventually lighten up it really will I
mean to my chagrin I remember especially in the early days of my walk with the
Lord every time I mean every time in those
early days every time I fainted in adversity it just uh just could I just
give up I'm backing off every time I did that it's like the breakthrough was like
right there the next day why you know what I don't know but what I do know is
if I just pressed a little bit longer if I just held on a little bit longer I
would've press through into victory and instead of feeling defeated I would have
felt victorious don't give up during the stretching don't give up during the
trials don't give up don't ever give up God knows how much you can handle and
he's not going to allow the enemy to press you past what you can bear okay
he's not going to put more on you than you can bear and throw the pressing your
building spiritual strength you're building character that's going to serve
you well in the next phase what God has called you to do you have a purpose you
have a destiny you have a calling but you've got to go through these times of
stretching to to fulfill it the highest calling that's what we're after so
always remember that sometimes manifesting your victory in spiritual
warfare is just outlasting the devil's pressure alright
so now here's the deal remember this God is trying to enlarge your spiritual
capacity that's why he's stretching you so he can pour more of himself in it
take confidence in confident trust God trust him know that he's stretching you
so you could hold more of his power more of his wisdom more of his character that
you could be more like him that you could have more of him they should be
closer to him he wants to increase your influence he wants to enlarge your
territory he wants to do it because he has a purpose and a plan in mind for you
and he needs to stretch you to get you where he wants to take you it's just
that simple you know for months it's been a couple years now but for months
and months I I confessed out of my mouth I quoted Isaiah 54 every
single day and I had memorized I memorized parts still but I've memorized
waited before but I can repeat it back to you at the time
a friend of mine though approached me last week and says she had a powerful
ward for me I was like okay well hey come on let's hear it I'm gonna call you
right now so she said it was Isaiah 54 of all things and it really struck my
spirit and it really during this time of stretching helped me and encouraged me
and helped me renew my vision and so it's too long to print the whole chapter
but I want to read from you some of the some of the verses here that really I
think will inspire you also Isaiah 54 2 & 3 says enlarge the place of your tent
and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwelling do not spare lengthen your
cords and strengthen your stakes for you shall expand you got that
you shall expand to the right and the left and your descendants will inherit
the nation's and make the desolate cities inhabited Isaiah 54 11 and 13
through 13 oh you afflicted one and your buddy feel afflicted right about now
oh you afflicted one tossed with tempest and not comforted behold I will lay your
stones with colorful gems and lay your foundations with sapphires I will make
your pinnacles of rubies your gates of crystal and your walls of precious
stones all your children shall be taught by the Lord and great shall be the peace
of your children let it be so god hallelujah and then Isaiah 54 14 through
15 says in righteousness you shall be established you shall be far from
oppression for you shall not fear and far from terror for it shall not come
near you indeed they shall surely assemble but not because of me whoever
is cymbals against you salt shall fall for your sake
catch that take that today and then Isaiah 54 16 through 17 says behold I
have created the blacksmith who blows the coals and fire who brings forth an
instrument for his work I have created the spoiler to destroy no weapon formed
against you shall prosper but every tongue that rises against you and
judgment you shall condemn for this is the inheritance of the service of the
Lord and your righteousness Christ this is for you take it take it
be encouraged understand what is happening to you and it won't be so bad
it's not encompassed not comfortable anyway but when you can see when you can
pull back the curtain and see you know not all of what God said but when you
understand the principles of what's happening you can yield to it you can
cooperate with the grace of God trust yourself in God's hands let me leave you
with this quote from Oswald Chambers he was an early twentieth-century Baptist
to the holy holiness movement evangelist and this is a really really really
really appropriate as we close patience is more than endurance he said the
Saints life is in the hands of God like a bow and an arrow in the hands of an
archer God is aiming at something the saint cannot see and he stretches and
strains and every now and again the saint says I cannot stand anymore
God does not heed he goes on stretching till his purpose is in his sight then he
lets fly trust yourself in God's hands maintain your relationship to Jesus
Christ by patience of faith though he slay me yet will I trust him can anybody
get in agreement with that today can anybody say amen to that today just
understand and know that he is Lord he is in control he loves you his thoughts
toward you or good thoughts for future and I hope his plans for you are just
wonderful beyond anything you could ask or imagine so let me pray for you today
before we go appreciate you watching the video be sure to subscribe to my videos
to my youtube channel before you head out so I thank you Father right now in
the name of Jesus I thank you for the work of your hand
I just love you God we love you we seek to obey you with a hundredfold obedience
god help us to to obey you in the stretching help us to yield to you god
help us to cooperate with the spirit of grace help us god we want your will we
want your will in our lives no matter what that is no matter what we have to
go through we want it no matter what we have to die to we want your will no
matter what we have to give up or let go of we want your will god help us help us
god give us the grace to pray with your grace flood us with your
grace God flood us with your love God give us a revelation of what we're here
doing what's what's happening to show us just a glimmer yet we trust you no
matter what and we thank you God in the name of Jesus amen well again be sure to
visit my website at Jennifer LeClaire.org I do weekly radio broadcast I post that
on Facebook every week as well and I will talk to you again soon
bless you