Beyond my Bubble
By Jessica Brodie
Did you ever watch superhero movies or read comic books and wish you had a superpower like they did? Growing up, I had my own version of a superpower, something I called my magic bubble.
As a shy, bookish, sensitive girl who moved around quite a lot during my childhood, I needed a way to cope with my feelings about this. My brain invented my “bubble,” which was like a forcefield that surrounded me, protecting me from outside harm.
I even had my own understanding of what my bubble looked like—iridescent, it shimmered somewhere between a pale green, pale blue, and pale pink, and when anything foul came my way, boink! It just bounced off into oblivion.
My bubble was great, especially when I got to my teenage and young adult years. Mean girls and snarky side-eye glares were no match for my bubble.
However, I got to my mid-thirties and realized I’d outgrown my bubble—even though I still kept it with me like an old friend, protecting me.
Only, it didn’t really protect me anymore. In truth, it served much like a barrier, keeping other people out. Some days, it prevented me from seeing beyond my comfort zone, my own small space in the world, too.
Around then, I started getting involved with short-term mission work. While as the mom of four teens, today I don’t have a lot of time for mission trips, I’ve been on a few, and I was struck during my first trip about the way my eyes were opened. I consciously forced myself to see and to experience other people and situations without my protective bubble as a filter. I worked to allow myself to truly feel, to hear, to understand the pain and joy and suffering of the people we ministered with.
When I came back, my heart soon settled on a phrase my friend, Billy, often uses when he talks about mission work. Billy describes it as the chance to “be the hands and feet of Jesus.” The phrase stems from what Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 25:34-40 about the importance of seeing people in need and responding in genuine love. That might mean sharing our food with another person, or heading to a devastated area after a tornado or other natural disaster to remove fallen trees and patch roofs so people can have shelter in their time of need. It might mean offering the gospel to a stranger or an ear to someone who needs to talk.
And when it comes to being the hands and feet of Jesus, I realized there’s no room for a bubble.
I’m grateful to my bubble for the protection it provided during the years I desperately needed it. But now, I’ve put my bubble on a shelf.
Authentic faith means coming out of our little bubble and trying our best to be the hands and feet of Christ.
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Thanks to my Patreon sponsors: Matt Brodie, Emily Dodd, Kathleen Patella, Billy Robinson, Yancy Rose, and Lanny Turner.
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