This year, the Lord has given Thrive Church the vision to “Grow and Go”. What does this mean for us as individuals and as a church community?
In the coming weeks, we will hear from various individuals what this theme means to them. To kick off this series, join us as Dr. Cheryl shares her heartfelt thoughts on the call to ‘Go and Grow’!
Isaiah 54:2-4
“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread to the right and to the left, your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.
The theme of the year is to GROW and GO! Looking at these verses at face value, it speaks simply of enlarging our tents – to lengthen the cords and strengthen our stakes so that our tents will have a larger capacity to hold more. This expansion does not stop with us, but our children, and our children to come.
However, if one were to read the verse before this, this message was to a barren woman (54:1). Putting these verses together, God is telling a barren woman to rejoice, because she can expect to not only have children, but to have so many, that she will need to start preparing to expand her tent so that she can hold more.
The skeptics among us might start asking, some aloud, some under their breaths, how is this possible, how can a barren woman expect to have a child, much less descendants? And perhaps, God knew this would be the thoughts of many, as the verses that follow provides reassurance that we can stand on His promises (Isaiah 54:4-6). He brings us back to the Old Testament and reminds of the covenant that He had made with Noah, that “though mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet (His) unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor (His) covenant of peace be removed” (Isaiah 54:10). God continues to speak of His blessings, protection, and peace upon on His children (Isaiah 54:11-17).
In this chapter, God speaks of His promises from before and of His promises to come. God does not tell us in what manner will the barren woman start having children, nor does He tell us how He will be rebuilding our cities. However, what He leaves with us is a couple of instructions – to rejoice and to prepare.
This year, let us focus on these. With joy and gratefulness in our hearts, let us start building on ourselves, both individually and as a church. Let us start strengthening ourselves, physically, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually. And as we go through the year, surely as the tough gets going, let us not get derailed, and to hang on tight to the promises and reassurance that is in God’s words – that though “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
Let us start growing and going!
– Cheryl Lim
Thrive Church 