“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
The words on the sign outside the chiropractor’s office said “Blessed are those who are flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.” These words made me laugh as I drove by and read them. Even more, they made me take a close look at myself and my attitudes and actions.
How often do I get bent out of shape? When things don’t go my way. When people do not act like I think they should act. When God gives clear directions for me to do something I don’t want to do. There are days when I get bent out of shape multiple times.
Think about the effects of getting bent out of shape – negative thoughts and words, stress, anxiety, difficulty with relationships, frustration . . .
The longer I thought about the words on the sign, I realized that they also applied to my walk with the Lord.
God wants me to be flexible – willing to adapt to new, different and changing circumstances and not be like a ramrod – rigid, severe and stiff.
If I am not flexible, how can God use me? If I am not flexible, what am I missing that He has for me? If I am not flexible, how is my witness affected?
Being flexible is not easy. It requires that I put aside myself – surrender my will, my ways, my thoughts, my actions to God – over and over and over again – sometimes multiple times a day. It means being willing to follow God as He directs. It means learning to see interruptions and changes as God at work and as opportunities for ministry. It means letting go and letting God.
God gives me ample opportunities to learn to be flexible. Some days are better than others but each time I am flexible, I see Him at work and I grow to more appreciate His ways.
Blessed are those who are flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. As I see it, you and I have a choice – flexible or bent out of shape. I going for flexible. What about you?