strong and flexible

Two qualities we admire a great deal in a person's character are strength and flexibility.  These two traits seem to rarely coexist.  Materials that are strong are usually very hard and resistant to bending.  Materials that are flexible are usually more pliable and prone to bend with pressure.  Ideally, strength with flexibility is the ideal mix.  This morning I spied a spider working on his web in the branches of a tree overhead.  I considered the amazing silk used by the spider to build his web.  Research shows that the spider's silk is a complex protein substance that is both strong and flexible.  This material has a greater tensile strength than high grade steel.  Yet it can be stretched 40% beyond its original length without breaking.  It is also very light.  A strand of spider's silk long enough to circle the earth would weigh less than 16 ounces.  Researchers have tried, in vain, to manufacture spider's silk for commercial purposes.  They are only just beginning to crack the DNA code that provides the blueprint for its composition.  Only the humble spider can produce this substance.  Our amazing Creator provided the spider with material that is nearly invisible, yet extremely strong and flexible.  It occurs to me that He wants to build the same qualities into our lives.  His presence in our hearts spins a silk of strength and flexibility with lightness that man cannot replicate, or easily explain.  I suppose that is because the strength is wrapped up in His holiness and the flexibility defined by His grace.    Proverbs 30:28 The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,       And it is in kings' palaces.   blessings, Rob Smith