Building by Faith: Feeling the Stretch of Stewarding and Carrying More

There are many mornings when my house is still, and it’s quiet. It's the moment I will long for throughout my day, and I know I must embrace it. I have begun to choose to rise early even when it hurts, and begin to work before the children awake. I take the time to sit with God, pray, and listen to Him. This has not been an easy habit to develop, but it has become my requirement before starting each day. When I begin my mornings in this way, I can feel the weight of everything God has placed in my hands. Not as a burden…but it becomes an invitation to bring Him into my plans, and allow Him to lead them and the weight that comes with building and stewarding them.

I've learned that growth feels like stretching, and it’s uncomfortable. These moments with God remind me of the requirements He has of me to not only meet with Him, but to let His will be revealed to me, and then settled within my heart. What He reveals He’s planned for me is always too big for me to feel comfortable doing it. It’s always too great for me to construct a plan or vision without wondering how it will get done. This is because God is always building through His people something greater than their ability. I believe He builds out of our acceptance that we cannot do it without Him. When and if we try to do it any other way, or out of our own strength, we quickly realize we cannot carry it alone!

As we grow through the process of growing our homes, our families, and especially the development of our children, the passion and desire to fill gaps and holes that God allows us as mothers to discern and see, can become seemingly endless. This is why the need to allow the Holy Spirit to be a guide and a counselor, a comforter and a friend, is the only way we grow what is in our hands gracefully, and without becoming overwhelmed.

The stretching isn’t meant to be overwhelming, and it is not designed to overtake you. The stretching that growth produces leads to healthy fruit, and:

• More opportunities

• More responsibility

• More community

• More vision

This is why my prayers have changed from, “Lord send me families and connect me to people who will invest in what I’ve created, and what I’ve built,” to, “Lord send me to families and make me visible to those that need what you have given me to share. Help me build what will serve others in a greater way for your glory.”

Now, that change shocks me! It has made me aware of the transformative power of Christ working in my life! When I realize what I am truly motivated by God's desire to see His Kingdom advancing in my home and in my life, I know that I have grown!

Yes, we pray for increase…and we absolutely should! Yet, when we begin to see increase through the lens of the Holy Spirit, it looks completely different than how we may have seen it before. God doesn’t give us more to steward, and more to build so we increase for our own selfish gain. He gives us more so that we can GIVE more. This level of stewardship, and building is very different from the way I understood it from the beginning.

I originally thought stewardship was merely focusing on and taking care of what I already had in my hands. As God stretches me and grows me in this journey of faith I’m in, I am realizing more and more that stewardship also means preparing for what God is sending. Many times, preparation is saying to God, “Yes, I’ll do it. I will do what you are asking of me. I’m not waiting for you to put it all together. I’m now going to prepare for what You have revealed is coming.” Preparation isn’t just waiting. It’s also seeking Him for continued direction, and asking Him for His timing. It’s writing out the vision He’s given to you, and then mapping out a plan. It’s doing the research and learning what it will take to get it in motion. It’s continuing to pray it through even before it manifests. It’s asking God to show you the people assigned to what He’s called you to do, and praying for destiny helpers that will assist you and join you. He doesn’t call us to build alone.

Carrying more doesn’t mean we carry it alone. We carry what God entrusts to us to Him in prayer. We ask Him repeatedly for His wisdom on how to do it. We surrender it back to Him so it does not become an idol. We rest and take time to be refilled and refreshed even after we’ve worked on it and tended to it faithfully. We partner with God as we give birth to every project, assignment and vision, knowing that it’s God breathed and ordained, and He will provide us with the necessary means to see it completed!

We don’t rush the process to see it completed. We learn to build slowly. Everything He gives us now doesn’t have to be launched NOW. I have learned that I don’t have to finish every idea this week…because faithfulness becomes more important than speed. I build one brick at a time. I keep my family at the center, and Christ at our core. Sometimes, I walk away from what I’ve purposed to be successful so that I can trust God with what I've done. I trust that once I’ve released one post, one resource, or one book, one song; that God will breathe on it when I’ve been obedient. I learn to take my time and trust that God has a divine timing and release for what He told me to build. I don’t rush to complete it because I trust His process and His timeline for its completion and release.

What are you building today? Is it your business? Is it simply the order and structure of your home, your homeschool? Is it a new ministry He’s calling you to birth out? I want to encourage you today to lean into the creative process your Creator has mapped out for you. The very thing that has become weighty, is the key to your discovery of how great and mighty our God truly is! We cannot fail in Him, and the evidence that we are truly in Him is the feeling of the stretch that does not overwhelm, it GROWS us up, and it grows us in Him.

If you’ve been feeling stretched, it doesn’t mean you’re failing or that it’s too much. The stretching is also evidence that you are GROWING. What God is asking you to carry, didn’t come with instructions to carry it perfectly. He is simply asking you to carry it FAITHFULLY. The grace you receive each day will meet every single one of your responsibilities. Lean into to Him and trust Him to help you grow as you BUILD.