Blob-Life

Do you remember doing a science experiment?  I sure do!  Now that our boys are rolling through school I have had the pleasure of watching them wrestle with a topic, creating a hypothesis, and then conducting the experiment.

The problem is that their passions often need adult supervision.  And finances.  Sam wanted to test the miles per gallon of our Jeep with the top on and doors on versus all of those items off.  So that cost a tank of gas and a few hours of time.

Levi has a different passion.  He’s very much into hunting and firearms.  He loves the ballistics and mechanics of guns; in a healthy way!  So with the blessing of his school administrators he set off to study the flight patterns and characteristics of different .22 caliber bullets.

I thought I was supervising but God showed up at the gun range and that’s where this little story came from.

Levi set up his rifle 10 yards from the target.  At first we thought the stars of the show were the different rounds.  We had 5 different bullets with different grain counts and shapes.  These were the things Levi was focused on because, well, they were more interesting!  They were the things that cracked and zipped through the air.  They were the things doing the damage. They were cool!

On the other end of the 10 yards was the target.  It was a big blob.  An intentional blob called “Ballistic Gel”.  It was a 6 inch by 6 inch by 16 inch block and it was going to stop, slow down, and absorb all of the bullets we were about to fire.

We first tried to make the ballistic gel but that didn’t work out so well.  We needed the tried and true thing that was battle tested and true to its intended function!  So we ordered the block and now it sat, down range, and ready to take the heat!

Now I don’t know about you but I know I’d rather be a bullet than a blob.  That’s what I thought at the beginning of the experiment anyways.  And as Levi pumped round after round into the blob he made my case.  Bullets were zinging!  They were on target!  They were changing whatever they came into contact with!  Why wouldn’t you want to be a bullet and adopt the bullet way of life?!

After the smoke cleared we walked towards the block for further inspection.  We could see where each round entered the block of gel.  There were wounds.  We could see the pathway through the gel because the bullets left their mark. 

A few bullets entered the gel but were stopped.  Some changed their path upon hitting the gel.  All changed shaped.  A few made it the whole way through and left exit wounds.  Not one bullet stayed the same upon meeting the gel.  And as far as I know they all eventually stopped and became inactive.  Lifeless.  Expired.

So I’m watching Levi be all science-y and inspecting the bullets and their trajectory and end result.  But I can’t help but see the ballistic gel and how it absorbed the shots.  The bullets were the focal points at first but the gel…the gel!  Its being, it’s story, is something to behold!

The longer we went on checking out the results the more the ballistic gel healed.  The entry points and exit points were less noticeable.  The block still held its shape and was undeterred by 5 rounds of .22 bullets zipping into and through it.  And to this day the ballistic gel is still a block!  It contains the remnants of bullets and some visual evidence but it’s still a big blob…and that’s the real story!

While you and I may rather be the bullets than the blob I have to tell you that after seeing the evidence of bullets and the ballistic gels resistance to them I want to be more like the latter.  My thinking is the reverse of what made sense before the experiment.

This is not a new phenomenon but it’s one that has to be told over and over in order for people to see it.  You see, God was at the gun range with Levi and I.  But His story didn’t involve bullets and ballistic gel but rather nails and flesh.  Nails were supposed to change anything they came into contact with; that’s why people of the day gravitated towards using them to nail Jesus to a cross.  Here in 2024 we may think the “bullet mentality” is where we want to align ourselves but long ago it was the “nail mentality” that was appealing to people.  The needed to hammer those nails to inflict damage, snuff out a revolution, and get rid of a rebel rouser!

But Jesus was the ballistic gel of the day.  He offered no solution that was temporary and a one-time use like a nail or bullet.  He was the stable gel; His body would absorb the hits but remain intact and in shape.  He would show wounds but by Gods grace they were healed. He took the hits and despite everything thinking he was gone forever he came back!  His gift endures forever.  The nails do not.

Levi wrapped up his experiment and has all kinds of data and photos from the day.  But God offered a fresh perspective…it’s ok to be blob like!  Receive that!  What is temporary, or single-use, or even meant to change your life will not destroy you.  Jesus knows that feeling and has the scars on His hands and feet to prove it.  He’s been there.  And don’t be tricked into thinking living like a bullet is the best.  It’s not.  You are more than one shot that will be destroyed after one use.  You are meant to be a blob of gel in Christ!  Let Him heal you and then tell the story to others because there are many, many others that started out as a bullet but feel like they are now the target. 

Bullets and Ballistic Gel.  Nails and our risen Savior.  Both stories started with a hypothesis but ended with a very different story and hero.  And thank God for that!