Stretch It Out

In my line of work, we sometimes talk about developing others by extending them the opportunity of a stretch assignment. Stretch assignments tend to fall outside the realm of one’s comfort zone. Yet, when completed, they have the potential result of building up one’s skill set. When I think back over my career trajectory, I can pinpoint many opportunities that I had to really stretch. In some cases, I can confirm that I actually developed a muscle for the workout, and it was a great learning experience. There are other instances where, even now, I can still feel the change that the stretch started even though I'm still growing in those areas.

One example I can think of has to do with public speaking. I’m used to being a background singer, so to speak. Taking the lead was something I never did or wasn’t given many opportunities to do. So I grew a little complacent with it. As I advanced in my career, being able to speak to a crowd became an expectation. I had to facilitate group discussions and lead sessions with peers in a similar position to mine. Initially, I experienced the quivery voice. You hope no one notices, but also, you know they all do. That coupled with a rapidly drying mouth and hoping your hands weren’t visibly shaking always made me so grateful when the time in the hot seat was over. Yet, every opportunity I got to speak publicly decreased those side effects. Over time, I sounded more confident than I felt. I learned to pace my speech so that I wasn’t rushing to get all my words out and leaving out important pieces of information. That’s how our confidence builds. By doing the things that, at times, cause us the most discomfort.

Some time later, I remember my Pastor speaking with me about teaching our Sunday School bible study lessons. I love the word of God so I was excited about being able to study in a more in depth way. Even though I was excited, I was also a nervous wreck. In the working industry, we talk about imposter syndrome a lot. I began to feel it in the worse way. How could I lead a lesson for people who probably knew way more than I did? The quivery voice was back. The dry mouth returned and so did the shaky hands. 

Little did I know that the experiences I encountered in my work were actually preparing me for a shift in God’s realm. We don’t always look at our life experience that way. Sometimes, we should pause and take in the experience. That can’t always be done with a readiness to learn. Certainly not when we are going through. Thank God for hindsight when it’s granted! For me, I began to think about strategies that helped get me through the nerves while speaking. I prepared written notes and key phrases to help me stay focused. I paced myself and allowed time for questions, which also served as an opportunity for me to catch my breath! 

The most important thing I learned through both experiences was to start out with a prayer. The journey helped me recognize that the calm that comes is in allowing God to take the lead and for me to become his background singer. That seems odd, right? After saying that it was something that I was used to doing. But I had to step out of it in order to step back into it with a deeper understanding. A renewed focused on understanding what it meant to take a step back and follow God’s lead. In so doing, he gets the glory out of what I do and, let’s face it, can do it far better than I. As I learn more and more to decrease and take a step back, I learn to step into faith. I can think of no greater example of a stretch assignment than doing so. How many times has your faith had to show up to the table? We are granted many opportunities to step out in faith and to truly stretch that muscle. The growth has such a tremendous impact on who we are in Christ and we get to keep growing. We get to keep stretching it. So never stop stretching your faith and trusting God for even bigger today than we did yesterday. 

Stay Sunny!

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