I’m the Rubber Band Girl
Years ago I was in the midst of complaining to the Lord about being stretched in certain areas. As much as I tell this story I don’t remember now what I was complaining about or what the Lord was stretching me in. It was probably speaking before people. As much as I know I’m called to do it, and make myself do it regularly it still freaks me out. I just make myself do it. Anyway I was cleaning out an old junk drawer at my parents house and in the back of the drawer there was an old and crusty rubber band. It’s funny that God uses the simplest things sometimes to teach us lessons. I started to play with the rubber band. It only took a few stretches and that rubber band stung me across the hand. It broke because it had been sitting in the back of the drawer for too long. That’s when I felt the Lord drop into my spirit, “See, if I don’t stretch you and use you on occasion you’ll become like that old crusty rubber band and break when I need to use you.” Ouch! Which stung more, where the rubber band stung me or the fact that I’d been whining to the Lord about being stretched?
We as a people are so funny. We complain to God for not using us. We complain to Him for wanting to get to our destiny in life. We complain about the weather. We complain about our finances. We complain and complain. When God tries to do anything about it, like use us and that stretches us more than we want to be stretched we complain about that too. The Bible says in Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing. That’s a whole lot easier said than done. I know. But we have to realize as God’s people that He knows what He is doing. When we look at our lives we see such a small part. But God looks at our lives from the finish line. He sees the whole picture.
In order to be yielded to God we must quit fighting him every step of the way. When I was first learning to swim my mom tells the story of my swim instructor. He was trying his hardest to teach me to swim at the local Y, and instead of letting him teach me, I proceed to beat him up with my fists. Sure I can laugh about it now, but I don’t think it was funny to him at the time. I’m sure in the first few lessons we didn’t get much accomplished. I was so caught up in fighting him every step of the way, I couldn’t focus on swimming. We do the same to God. We’re so stubborn to His leading that we start arguing and fighting Him. I have news for you, you’ll get a lot more accomplished in the Kingdom of God and in your life if you stop fighting Him. When two people work together in unity a lot more can get done. As much as I tried to fight that swim instructor eventually I learned how to swim. It was a waste of his time and my effort to fight as hard as I did.
People, we do the same to God. Fighting Him and running from Him is exhausting. You can’t get done everything you need to, and your frustration will start to wear you down. Stop fighting Him. God has never given up on you. His callings and plans for your life are there for you to fulfill. What have you been fighting with the Lord about? He formed you in the womb, and created you for a purpose (Jeremiah 1:5). Let him show you, and direct you to that purpose. There is freedom in that. There is freedom from fighting Him. There is freedom to trust Him. There is freedom to find who you really were made to be in this world. In Him there is freedom.
