Stretched

Anyone who has been around me for longer than an hour knows I am constantly fidgeting with something.  Be it tapping a pen, twirling keys, or stretching a rubber band, this fidgeting soothes me. Sure, it drive everyone around me nuts, but what’s a fidgeter to do?  Today I found myself empty handed when I spied a rubber band at the bottom of a mesh pen box.  “Oooh, perfect,” I thought. “Rubber bands are on my top-three list of things to fidget with!”

However, I was disappointed when I fished the rubber band out only to find it had been sun warped after sitting in that box since the Clinton administration.  Have you ever played around with a sun-warped rubber band?  It is crusty and stiff, the polar opposite of what it was designed to be.  But the worst part is that it does not stretch.  With any amount of pressure, it cracks and then snaps, making it useless… even to a fidgeter.

In light of the fast our community has entered into, I wonder how often I am like that sun-warped rubber band, allowing subtle burnout and the pressures of life to fade the qualities of Christ within me.  This is a scary thought because Jesus clearly told us that apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5).  The world does not need Jason Fuller; the world needs Jesus.  The world does not need you; it needs Christ in you.  Sure, we can make a lot of noise, but in the end it is only noise if we are not continually refreshing ourselves in the abundance of Christ.  This is why this season of prayer and fasting is so important. As painful as it may feel, God is using it to restore and refresh our souls, deepen our dependency on Him, and prepare us to be stretched . . . without snapping.

Just a thought,

Jason