There’s a running joke in our group (I love inside jokes) about the sentence I included in my title. But let me explain. Someone brought up in our group that humans are like rubber bands: we are stretched and can never go back to our original state.
Then there was a wise rebuttal from a girl in our group who said, “But humans really aren’t like rubber bands,” because they don’t break like rubber bands do.
I got to thinking about that statement. Do we really break? What keeps us from breaking?
I must admit that I have thought I would break from silly things on this trip. Issues I’ve had to keep private, past vices that like to resurface whenever I become uncomfortable or have to give something up (like being in shape, for example, or not outgrowing my clothes already), family problems and misfortunes at home, lack of quality sleep, lack of access to modern technologies, vegetables, fruit…if I wanted to be Negative Nelly the list could go on.
But why do that? The Positive Polly in me decided to reflect on this verse:
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.” — Psalm 31:24
King David (a man probably shorter than me who killed a beast dude 9 feet tall named Goliath and was pretty much an all around awesome man of God) wrote a lot of the Psalms, including this one. He went through persecution, numerous times of peril, temptation and failure, and grand adventures. This man was not ripped like Arnold Schwartzeneger. In fact, in 1 Samuel (Chapter 16 or 17 I believe) he was described as a softer man with handsome features.
He was probably more like Zac Efron (that’s for all you girls that have seen Hairspray or seen High School Musical). Not a big jock but nice to look at.
If God could make something great out of a youngest son who wasn’t known (without God’s gifts) as a man-made beefcake, then why couldn’t he do anything great with what we have? Even if you don’t have the best bod (heheh) or the highest IQ. Or if you are breakable.
I say this mostly for me but also for all who read this. God is spiritual milk: he does your spirit good.
And lastly, I do agree that humans are not like rubber bands. Because we aren’t cheaply made and we don’t break.
We just get really elastic.
God bless you all!
