We Are Bent, Not Destroyed
Jesus modeled flexibility: hardship and persecution bent but didn’t break him. Change and challenge strengthened his ministry. Impossible situations yielded to healing and release.
How many of us could benefit – not from a hard yank but from a stretchy bend, not from stiffness but from resilience?
Bending can be scary, of course. Responding to pressure with flexibility can be counterintuitive. Who knows what our limits are? Who knows if we might crack and break?
But bending can be a source of strength: Trees bend in the wind. Bows bend in order to release their arrows. The river bends around the mountain.
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
we are perplexed, but not despairing;
we are bent, but not destroyed.
—2 Corinthians 4:8-10, adapted
Take time in the Lent 2024 season to bend low and be renewed. From the Stillspeaking Writers’ Group, the devotional
Bend provides daily readings, reflections, and prayers for the Lenten season: Ash Wednesday (Feb 14) to Easter Sunday (March 31).
Find all materials in the Crossroads App. Sign up now to receive instructions and encouragement along the way.
