True story: I’m a planner.
I like lists and schedules and plans and goals and routine.
It helps me operate at my best, I tell my husband.
It frees up my mind to think clearer, I tell my friends.
It’s the way You wired me, I remind God.
But truth be told, it also gets me into a boatload of trouble because I’m not flexible.
I don’t adapt well to change.
I don’t live life with ease and breeze.
And I definitely twitch (inwardly) when people suggest we “go with the flow.”
Is it any wonder then that God took me on a journey to confront this very thing? Nope, not at all. This is God’s style. This is what He does. He helps us grow and mature by stretching us to confront the very areas of life we’d rather not venture into.
But faith thrives best when we step outside of our comfort zones. It’s as simple and as difficult as that.
So there I was, last week, working at Starbucks, when the words “be flexible” floated through my mind. This has happened before — seeing I’ve been on a “flexibility” journey now for 3.5 years — so I wasn’t surprised. But the words did cause me to stop typing, close my eyes, pray, and confirm that that’s what I had heard. And yes, I had heard correctly.
So I shut off my headphones.
Took my phone out of autopilot mode.
Closed up my computer.
And waited.
No sooner had I shut it all down when I got a text message from a friend wanting to meet me so she could talk about a restlessness she was experiencing.
5 minutes after she arrived, a mutual friend of ours showed up. 5 minutes after that, another friend. Then another. And another. Each person had been directed to come to Starbucks for some reason they didn’t know, but it all made sense when each person arrived and saw the growing group of friends surrounding the tiny table in the corner.
And that’s when the epiphany hit me.
How many God moments have I thwarted by my inability to be flexible? And how many remarkable God moments have passed me by because I was unwilling to change and too busy writing lists rather than going with the flow?
I shutter to think.
It’s one thing to live your life with intention, purpose, focus, and good stewardship. But sometimes — sometimes — you just need to shut down the responsible side, the natural tendency side, the comfortable side, the preference side, the go-to habitual side, and the busy life side so you can be available for what He wants to do.
God is moving in the lives of every single person we come into contact with on a regular basis and He’s looking for people who are willing to lean into the flexibility of each moment in order to respond.
Besides, there is no list you could perfectly write, no scheduled plan you could supernaturally organize that could or would lead your life and faith to the kinds of moments that only God can orchestrate. Trust me on that.
So be open to flexibility.
Lean into the flow.
Learn to adapt to faith rather than expect faith to adapt to you.
“Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” —Anonymous
