09/01/2026
I heard the Lord whisper, “It’s okay that you don’t fit anymore.”
And then I saw a wineskin being stretched.
There are seasons when God begins to stretch you so deeply that what once felt comfortable no longer feels comfortable.
Rooms you once felt completely at home in suddenly feel unfamiliar.
Circles you once walked in no longer feel like where you belong.
Friendships that once nourished you begin to leave you depleted.
Conversations that once satisfied you no longer reach the place they used to.
The Lord is stretching you.
You are in the uncomfortable stretching of the wineskin.
Jesus said that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins, because the new wine will cause the wineskin to burst.
The stretching is not rejection, the stretching is preparation.
You are not becoming better than the people around you.
You are not becoming too good for the places you once belonged.
You are not suddenly above the tables you once sat at.
You are simply being stretched for what you cannot carry in your old capacity.
There is a new wine coming, and God is enlarging your capacity to hold it.
That is why the old wine doesn't satisfy you anymore.
Things that used to entertain you don't excite you the same way.
Conversations that used to occupy you now feel empty.
Environments you once tolerated now grieve your spirit.
You can’t explain it because nothing necessarily happened, you have simply changed.
And sometimes the greatest evidence that God is doing something new in you is that what used to fit no longer does.
Do not force yourself back into a place God is stretching you out of.
Do not shrink yourself to remain comfortable in rooms you have already outgrown.
Do not keep trying to fit into yesterday when God is preparing you for tomorrow.
Sometimes God closes doors that were open last season because He is preparing to open doors that could never have been accessed from where you were.
Sometimes you outgrow the table you once sat at.
And it’s okay.
Honor the table.
Honor the people.
Honor the season.
Honor what God did there.
Just because someone isn't walking with you into tomorrow doesn't mean they didn't bless you today.
Just because a friendship had an expiration date doesn't mean it wasn't genuine.
Just because God is shifting you doesn't mean what you had before wasn't beautiful.
Some people were assigned to a season, not a lifetime.
Some relationships were part of your formation, not your destination.
Some rooms were necessary for where God was taking you, but they were never meant to be where you stayed.
So don't grieve the stretching as though something has gone wrong.
The wineskin is stretching because there is something new that God intends to pour into you.
There is new wine coming.
There is fresh oil coming.
There is a new capacity coming.
Stop trying to fit where God is called you to grow.
Stop apologizing for the stretching.
Stop going backward to make yourself comfortable.
The Spirit is making room for what you have never carried before.
And the stretching may feel painful, but it is also purposeful.
You are not being stretched to be separated from everyone.
You are being stretched so you can carry what God is pouring out next.
So bless the season that was.
And let God prepare you for the season that is coming.
-Jessica Jecker | Simply Jecker

