Genesis 11-21

Clive Urquhart

Take a few moments to think about three possible ways people can live their lives:

• The Comfort zone - safe, secure, under control, easy, apathetic, opinionated but without action, pleasing self. In short - comfortable.
• The Stretch zone - faith and trust, growth, expansion, challenge, fruitful, fresh, exciting, purpose, favour, promises of God.
• The Panic zone - fear, nervous, react. Where we take things into our own hands when the circumstances of our lives seem to be too much for us, or we don't think God is doing what we think He should be when we want Him to. Pressure builds, we panic and then try and do God's job for Him.

Gen 11:31: Abram settled in Haran. His comfort zone.

Gen 12:1-9: God commands Abram to leave. God reveals his call on Abram. He obeys. Into the Stretch zone.

Gen 12:10-20: Abram goes to Egypt. He tells a lie that his wife, Sarah, is his sister because he was afraid they would kill him in order to take her as one of their wives. The Panic zone. Truth comes to light. Sent out of Egypt. Back in the Stretch zone.

Gen 15:5-6: God promises reaffirmed. The Stretch zone.

Gen 16:1-10: Abram and Sarah can't see how God will fulfil His promise of having their own son. So, they take matters into their own hands. The Panic zone.

Gen 18:9-14: Promise they would have their own son within a year. The Stretch zone.

Gen 21:1-3: Isaac born. The Stretch zone.

God called Abram out of what he had known into an adventure that would change his life and the lives of every future generation. Haran had become a place of comfort, a place with no vision and no purpose. God had so much more than that for Abram. For God's purpose to be fulfilled He had to move Abram out of the comfort zone and into the stretch zone. Along the way he dipped into the panic zone when fear or doubt got the better of him because he took his eyes off God's promises.

To live in The Stretch Zone is right where God wants us. It's the place of growth, fruitfulness, faith, and purpose. It's the place where we can feel out of our depth, which causes us to become more dependent on the Holy Spirit. But being stretched increases our capacity for what God wants in our lives which effects how we believe, think and live our lives daily.

Either side of the stretch zone, the comfort and panic zones are trying to take centre stage to distract us from God's best. Keep an eye out for them.

Maybe have a quick review of your life. Are you living in the Stretch Zone? Are there any ways you might be in the comfort or panic zones? If so, what do you need to do to get back in the Stretch Zone?

You can listen to or download The Stretch Zone message and loads more from our website.

Have a fantastic day. May this be your best year yet.