Embracing the Tension
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Have you ever felt tension in your life? There are negative tensions, like anxiety or worry, and positive tensions, like weight-training. According to Webster's online dictionary, the type of tension we're talking about means "either of two balancing forces causing or tending to cause extension".
In every life, there is a tension that exists between who we are now and who God is calling us to be. Switchfoot says it best in their song Dare to Move: "The tension is here, The tension is here; Between who you are and who you could be, Between how it is and how it should be." As Webster's indicates, tension produces our "extension".
If we aren't experiencing some sort of tension in our lives, the likelihood is that we've not yet come to the place of accepting Christ's calling to serve Him, in whatever fashion He has purposed for us in the here and now.
Tension isn't a bad thing; rather, it's a propelling force helping us to be better, and strengthening our faith as we progress. Just as the tension system in a weight machine helps us build muscle, God will put situations and people in our path to create tension to prepare us for the ultimate purpose He has for our lives. God doesn't want us to stay where we are; therefore He uses these people and situations to help us become more like Him. In tension our faith gets stronger.
If we are pursuing God's calling on our lives, tension will always exist. Why? We will always have a flesh part of us that will want to sabotage our potential in Him, (Galatians 5:17) but God's redemption of our souls will always be creating the desire in us to do the good works God intends for us to do. Ultimately, we know we are being shaped for something. Our eyes look upward as we accept God's process for shaping us for His ultimate purpose for our lives.
Have you embraced the tension in your life?
Related resource: Dream Come True: A Practical Guide to Pursue the Adventures God Has for You by Jenny Randle
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