As You Stretch

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by Brian Goslee

Today we are looking at how we can stretch in our lives to activate our faith, based on a story found in the Bible, in the gospel of Mark 3:1-5.

Then Jesus left them and went again into the synagogue, where he encountered a man who had an atrophied, paralyzed hand. Everyone was watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath, giving them a reason to accuse him of breaking Sabbath rules. Jesus said to the man with the paralyzed hand, “Stand here in the middle of the room.”

Then he turned to all those gathered there and said, “Is it against the law to do evil on the Sabbath or to do good? To destroy a life or to save one?”
But no one answered him a word.

Then looking around at everyone, Jesus was moved with indignation and grieved by the hardness of their hearts and said to the man, “Now stretch out your hand!”

As he stretched out his hand, it was instantly healed!

Mark 3:1-5 (TPT)

There’s a lot that can be learned from the story, but I want to focus on the man in the story and how his actions are something that we could learn from and, in ways, imitate in our life to help us activate our faith and stretch our faith.

At the end of this account, it says, “As he stretched out his hand, it was instantly healed.” I just want you to think for yourself “as you stretch…”

…as you stretch your faith,
…as you stretch your giving, your money
…as you stretch out in faith to go toward another person, to be compassionate towards them, to forgive them

Since the title of this article is “As You Stretch,” I want to focus on the actions of this man. There are four actions he takes that make a little acronym called L.O.M.S.

Let’s look at how the man:

L=listened
O=obeyed
M=moved
S=stretched

The first thing this man had to do was he had to be listening. So he listened to Jesus and then he obeyed Jesus by moving. He listened, obeyed, and moved.

Jesus told the man with a paralyzed hand to stand in the middle of the room, and then Jesus said to the man, “Now stretch out your hand” and the man stretched. As he stretched out his hand, it was instantly healed.

The story does not say the man asked questions first. It didn’t say anything else. Jesus said, “stretch,” and the man, as he stretched [action], he was healed.

As we stretch, as we move towards God, as we listen, we obey, and we move, God can heal.

As we stretch towards a friend or a family member that needs compassion and forgiveness, God can heal that relationship and can move things forward.

As we stretch our finances to give in a generous way, God can heal, He can use, and He can stretch and join us in that giving and the effects of the purpose of that money or of that gift.

Today, I want you to think of the phrase as you stretch, and I want you to think of the man in the story. As he stretched out his hand, it was instantly healed.

My prayer for you today is that you’ll stretch out. You will listen to God, obey, and move how and where He tells you; that you would stretch out to God in faith; that you would stretch out to others as He’s prompting you to do with forgiveness, love, and compassion. I pray that you would be moved closer to God and closer to others and that you will help them move closer to God as well.