As a busy Summer leans into a (even more?) busy Fall I find myself looking back and reflecting on where I am, where I have come from, and what I have been learning along the way. It gives me better perspective of where the Holy Spirit is at work in my life.
A mentor of mine suggested that planning well is key to a good, consistent, and a successful ministry. He is certainly not wrong, but I would like to add that flexibility and the ability to adapt or redirect when unexpected change takes place and our plans don’t work out are just as necessary. We can plan and organize well but how do we deal with sudden and unexpected change that causes our plans to fall apart?
Lately I have been learning how to be flexible, to be able to adapt. I am learning that not everything that I plan or take time to organize will work out exactly as planned, regardless of how well it was planned. Sometimes life happens and our plans come apart – what matters then is how we react or bounce back. I think that the lesson here is to plan but at the same time to be prepared to be flexible and adaptable.
As an old missionary friend of mine once commented, “Blessed are the flexible for they shall bend and not break!” I was reminded of that just yesterday. We are attempting to ‘plan’ our next Pastor’s Cruise in October (see the poster below). I like things planned out. I like to know what is going to happen and how it will happen. Sadly planning this trip is not as simple as an email or phone call and there are a couple of unknowns that cannot be planned out. Do I get frustrated or anxious? Or do I lean into God in faith and trust, ready to adapt when it is needed, trusting that God will have a plan already laid out?
I am reminded of Proverbs 16:9 which reminds me of the Sovereignty of God in every situation and circumstance. He is in control, not me. My plans may give me the impression of control but when my plans come apart the facade of control crumbles with them. I may be caught off guard by sudden changes to my plans but God is never caught unawares by the unexpected!
I can plan, and must plan, but in my planning I must also make room for the Sovereignty of God – the fact that God has a plan even in the unexpected and sudden changes we encounter through life. Before I give in to frustration or anxiety therefore, I need to also be looking for ‘the fingerprints of God’ on these circumstances.
Being flexible, I guess then, is just being ready to discover the plans of God that I had not stumbled across earlier. It is all about dependance on God isn’t it? If my plans just worked out as I intended I may lose some of that need to lean and trust on Him. If my plans just succeeded as I intended them to I may be tempted to wander from Him and trust in my own understanding.
So I am learning to plan, but also to be ready to be flexible, leaning and trusting on Him who knows all things and who ‘directs my footsteps’.
