The "Sound" of Being Stretched

Ps 92:12
2 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
My pastor makes this remark often from the pulpit, “Pain is a great motivator.” You have to understand, I’m not one for this type of motivation. Offer me a dollar, dangle a gooey spoonful of an Oreo Cookie Blast from Sagebrush in front of my mouth, entice me with sweet kisses from my incredibly gorgeous wife, but please do not try and motivate me to action with Pain! Yet, more often than not, God uses a painful technique to prepare us for the good things He brings into our lives. Paul says, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces… (Romans 5:3NIV). Please understand, God does not use pain for punishment, He uses pain to stretch us or limber us to the point where we can produce the goodness He is bringing into our lives. God is more interested in developing your productivity for Him than making you pay for wrong doings. His purpose is to produce more capacity in your life to hold all the promises He has for your life.
My wife and I recently celebrated our 10 year Anniversary in August. Since 10 years is a major milestone in today’s society, we decided we would do something really special for ourselves. So, we left our son, Noah (5), and our daughter, MeKendyn (2), with their Nana and we decided to spend a few days in Cancun, Mexico. Now before you get the wrong idea about the salaries of youth pastors these days, we agreed to a “90 minute - Timeshare” presentation. We never would have been able to afford going to Cancun without this “Timeshare” promotion. You must know I hate sales pitches. I loathe high pressure situations when it comes to making a purchase. I believe that when Satan fell from Heaven, all of the angels that fell with him became “Timeshare” sales persons! My wife, Emily, and I knew, in order for us to enjoy paradise, we must suffer through the pain of a 90 minute presentation. What made the pain of the presentation bearable? Simple, Em and I knew the clear blue waters of the Atlantic and the white sands of Mexico were just minutes away. The “pain” of the presentation was bearable because we knew paradise was just ahead.

While touring this incredible resort, our host showed us a 13 story condominium complex that stood right next to their resort. Out of curiosity, I asked, “How much will those cost when the construction is completed?” Our host said, with a smirk of pride on his face, “$1 million per condo. And by the way there are 7 condos per floor.” Basically, this complex was worth over $90 million dollars. I asked him, “When will this new construction be finished?” He said, with broken English, “This would have already been finished, if the hurricane from 2 years ago would not have destroyed the infrastructure.” As he was sharing this information with me, we were standing right beside a palm tree that looked to have been there for decades. Being from the “Palmetto” state, I can identify a baby palm tree from an older more mature one. They’re smaller! Through the whipping branches of a vibrant palm tree, I stood there gazing at an intimidating condominium complex that was unfinished because of a storm. I want you to know, it does not matter how much someone says you’re worth. You prove your value based upon how you are after a storm has hit. I realized the same storm that destroyed this complex was the same storm this palm tree faced. Yet the tree was still standing. The same mountain-like waves that plundered a $90 million dollar complex thrashed this palm tree. The same devastating wind gusts that sent window frames, furniture, and shingles flying, whipped this palm tree. Like professional football players playing tug of war against preschoolers, the yanking of the currents that toppled a $90 million dollar building, was withstood by this palm tree. What was it about a palm tree that could withstand a storm that a $90 million dollar complex could not?
When I arrived back in South Carolina, I began to research the components of a palm tree. I found that a palm tree has elasticity, or the ability to be stretched. A palm tree in a severe storm will bend and stretch with a storm. I saw pictures on the internet of palm trees that were stretched to the point its branches on top were touching the ground. Some palm trees were stretched so much I thought, “Surely it had to have snapped under the pressure.” But it did not. The palm tree had the ability to be stretched. While being bent, a strange thing happened to this palm tree. It actually grew. It became taller. The trunk of the palm tree became strengthened by the storm, instead of weakened. The hurricane that weakened the infrastructure of a $90 million dollar complex strengthened this palm tree. Why? The palm allowed the pain of going through the storm to stretch it.
What about you? Can you identify more with the Condo or the palm tree? Do you fight to stand your ground in the storm more than allowing God to stretch you through it? In my line of work, I see so many people who look just like this condominium complex. From a distance they look incredible, but the closer you get, the more of a wreck you see they are. It’s all based upon your ability to be stretched or not. I know some of you are asking, “Well, how do I know for sure, which one I am?” Well, it’s determined by the sound you make while you’re being stretched.
For Christmas this past year, I bought Noah a beginner’s guitar. Late Christmas Eve, Em and I were helping Santa get MeKendyn and Noah’s gifts ready. So being the all-knowing “super dad” I am, I tried to get the guitar ready for a 5 year old to be excited about. As Em brought out the guitar she reminded me that the bass player for our youth praise team had already tuned the guitar. In order to have a string “tuned” it has to connect at the top and the bottom of the guitar. Yet, just being, “connected” is not good enough. Just having it “connected” does not produce a note. It takes the player twisting a knob that stretched the string in order to get the guitar to sound a melodic note. My 5 year old would have been happy just making a sound. Being musically inclined, I am interested in it making the “right” sound. There is a specific note each string is suppose to make in order to be in tune with everything else going on. Your Father sees you as an invaluable instrument in His tender hands. But know He is not interested in you just making any sound; He wants you to make the “right” sound. In order to get you “in tune” with what He is trying to do in your life, He has to stretch you. And it’s what sound you make that determines how much stretching you need!
New strings on a guitar are very temperamental. They are stiff and fall out of tune very easy to begin with. I tuned my son’s guitar and within minutes, it fell back out of tune. Tuned it again, the same result. Again, the same result. Even to this day, months later, I still have to stretch those strings in order to produce the right sound.
What if I snap? What if I just lose it all together and buckle underneath all the pressure? Then I would question whose hands you are in. Your Father is a master musician. He knows what sound you were created to make. He knows exactly how to handle you with care. And He knows just how far to stretch you to produce what He is trying to produce in your life.
Pain is inevitable. Pain is necessary. Pain does, in fact, motivate. Your ability to be stretched is what gets you past the pain. Maybe you are suffering through the worst presentation of your life, right now. Doctors are presenting sickness. Children are presenting rebellion and disrespect. Your marriage is presenting disaster. Your job is presenting unemployment. Your inner-being is presenting hopelessness. Look out the window, paradise lies just ahead! Stretch. Limber up. Grow through this process, because after it’s over, it’s over. Maybe you feel like a hurricane is coming your way. Stand big and proud and hope you last, or stretch with the storm and grow taller and stronger than you would have without the hurricane’s blows. Maybe you feel like an out-of-tune guitar. When pressure comes, you always seem to make the wrong sound. Children get the brunt of your pressure. Your spouse gets the left-overs of your life. You find yourself complaining to yourself, about yourself. Or worse, you begin complaining to God about how BIG all your problems are and how tired you are of always feeling stretched. Let me encourage you to remember “all things work together for the good (benefit) of those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God is more acquainted with your future than you are your past. Every stretch is for your benefit, so He can produce His purpose in you. So make the right sound. My wife says, “Stop telling God how big your problem is, and start telling your problem how big your God is.”
By the way, the palm tree in front of the resort was filled with coconuts. Not only was it still standing, but it was still producing fruit. There is just something about a person who can stretch through disastrous conditions, and still bare fruit. That is a person willing to be stretched toward his/her purpose. That is a person who is “flourishing (producing) like a palm tree.” That person can be you.