Faith stretching is not always a happy occasion. The joy comes with the result.

My preferred synonym for faith is trust.

A classic faith story in the Bible is God’s angelic release of Simon Peter from an inner prison and from sixteen armed guards. Amazing as that is, I love the parallel story unfolding at the same time in the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark.

A prayer meeting is taking place pleading with God to release Simon from prison. When Peter appears at the gate, the simple house cleaner believes. In her excitement, she leaves the Apostle locked out on the street and runs inside to give the good news to the praying church.

Yet, no one goes to the gate.

It is at this point I see myself in the prayer circle.

Praying fervently to God, when an answer appears, no one believes. What they knew as true—Herod had killed James—on Sunday, it would be Peter.

There was the current reality—the Apostle was behind locked prison doors, he was in chains on death row under 24-hour secure watch—four groups of four soldiers in each group made it strategically impossible to escape.

The only action the believers knew was to call upon God. However, this request seemed beyond His power. He didn’t save James, why would we believe deep down in our souls that He would save Peter?

After accusing the cleaning girl of being crazy, eventually the prayer group went to the gate. There Simon Peter stood—God does answer prayer. Their faith—trust in God—stretched.

The next time the group gathered to pray, I suspect they did so with strengthened trust in the Giver.

I am a slow learner. God and I continue to struggle with me on the process of stretching my faith. He is gracious, offering lesson after lesson in hopes that I will one day get it.

Thinking back over my life, the first “impossible solution” and its eventual God response turned into a life-long list. Each time I exercise my right to ask and each time God answers my “impossible request,” my faith increases.

Many times after receiving I often utter in the ecstatic belief of a child, “There really is a God!”

Since God wants me to trust Him completely, I can almost see a twinkle in His eye as He says, “Gary, your faith in Me needs stretching. Another bump is about to appear in your road. Let’s see if you can trust Me to handle this one.”

After a lifetime of bumps and roadblocks—their origin does not matter—whether placed by God, by Satan, or by my own doing, they are opportunities for stretching my faith in God who cares for me.

God is always ready to see me grow. He answers every faith-stretching need.  At times, His solution is immediate. More often than not, He draws the answer out. He seems to think I grow better over low heat.

Then there are times His answer is “no” even though it may be beyond my understanding. Is it possible God let Herod kill James for the church to understand the seriousness of following Jesus, while he saved Peter for tasks only Peter might yet fulfill?

It is always with a certain amount of hesitation I pray, “Lord, please stretch my faith. I want my trust in You to grow.”

Stay tuned. – Gary J. Sorrells