It Sucks to Be Human

I'm committed to eating healthy and exercising. I'm careful about what I put in my mouth. I work out faithfully several times a week. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life except . . .

My body still bears the cellulite and stretch marks I acquired as an overweight kid. No exercises cure that. I might have rock hard abs, but who can see them under the saggy belly skin from carrying four babies? My hands look older by the second. My gray hairs multiply as fast as my brain cells die.

It sucks to be human.

And it's not just physical. I sit in Bible study and am reminded of how I fail daily. My kids point out my inconsistencies. When others are hurting, I can't take away the pain or fix the problem. I stumble over my inadequacy every day of my life.

It sucks to be human.

Every day I'm more aware I'm not all that. It gets old, you know?

Is humanity about being humbled?

That's how it feels. When I look up the root hum that both words share, I see a connection. Hum pertains to earth, ground, man. I can't help but think of the psalmists words, "he remembers that we are dust." The Greek word for humble is tapeinos meaning "not rising far from the ground." Being human and being humbled go hand in hand, part of the deal for earth dwellers.

Humanity is a constant state of being humbled.

Sigh. What are we to do then? Where is the freedom, the joy we're supposed to know as God's children? Where is the good news?!

We can take comfort knowing this is not all there is. Earthly existence and decaying bodies will pass, but eternity does not. We can fight our humanity--our constant state of being humbled--gaining nothing but frustration or we can embrace it, knowing it causes us to long for something better, something more glorious and beautiful and lasting.

Yeah, it sucks to be human, but that makes heaven all the greater prize.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

It sucks to be human. That is true. But we won't be here forever. The best is yet to come.



Photo Credit: dok1