Feeling the Stretch

The shriveled clumps of grass clung weakly to the dirt. Brown and brittle, they crunched under my feet. It hadn’t rained in weeks. Everything was dry and dusty. Just walking around kicked up so much dirt that a light tan film constantly covered my feet and legs. My favorite summer camp was quickly turning into a desert.

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We were desperate for some rain!

“I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.” Psalm 143:6.

I knew firsthand what it meant to be in a parched land and desire water. But what did it mean to long for God like that?

“I stretch out my hand” When is the last time you reached for something, really reached and felt the stretch? As adults we don’t do this very often. We can usually just grab what we want pretty easily. Even at church, if we feel brave enough to raise our hands during worship, we don’t normally stretch them out to God.

I walked through the dry, dusty field at camp and I thought about being as desperate for God as I currently was for rain. Then I did it. I stretched out my hands. There is humility in stretching out to God…even a little bit of fear. Because we are admitting that we can’t reach by ourselves. We are showing a need.

What if God doesn’t meet us?

God will meet us! Look at some of His words,

“’You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all of your heart I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14.

“…that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is not actually far from each one of us.” Acts 17:26-28.

When I stretched out my hands to Him, felt the strain in my fingers and the pull in my elbow, He was right there. I’m desperate for God. I can’t live without Him. I need Him in the same way that plants need the rain. He knows that, but I need to remind myself. So, I stretch. Sometimes when I’m feeling brave at church I’ll lift my hand up just a little bit higher until I can feel it. Sometimes it’s in the car when I’m listening to the radio.

You should try it.

There is just something freeing and beautiful about admitting how much you need God. Be cautious, or just fling your arms up, but do it. Tell Him, “I stretch out my hands to you! My soul thirsts for you like a parched (that means really dry) land.”

God will send His rain!