(February 12, 2024) Mama Lava calls for an honest answer (and shares openly from her own heart)…
Come on, then… How flexible are you?
I’m not asking if you can do the splits or itch your own back, although if you can, I hope you say so in a Comment!
I’m referring here to your schedule. And while I’m asking, do you have a favourite day of the week to relax? (If so, what makes it your favourite?).
Mine is Saturday
Personally, I really enjoy the flexibility of Saturday. I wake up naturally and enjoy a slow morning. I’m free to lean in to my family’s ideas of things to do. If someone asks for my help with something, I jump in. Interruptions don’t feel inconvenient. I don’t pay attention to the clock.
I can’t help but contrast that with any given weekday, when I have to be up early and manage my time to be ready to start work by 7am.
My calendar there is crowded and complete with constant alerts which hurry me to wrap up one thing and begin another. There are priorities to fit into the hours around work too – quiet time with God, exercise, blogging, family time, sleep, and so on.
But… how Flexible am I Other Days?
I fear I am much less flexible and approachable on a weekday than I am on the weekend.
If someone needs unplanned assistance during the week, my response is not always gracious! If something goes haywire, I am liable to get stressed out. Anxiety surfaces when I have to add anything extra to an already burgeoning schedule.
I’ve often told my husband, Michael, that the answer to this character flaw of mine is to not work, that if I had six Saturdays a week, I would always be so pleasant!
Now I’ve just confessed all the above so you’d have some background to understand why I was compelled to stop and read the following quote – twice!
‘If you prefer to have your day all mapped out, then God’s divine appointments may feel like interruptions or even inconvenient detours. But God may be intentionally sending you in a direction that wasn’t on your schedule. Let’s expect to be redirected.’
Well, I don’t prefer to have my day all mapped out. But it is the unavoidable case five days a week. And, yes! Detours feel inconvenient.
Work as if God is our Supervisor!
Expecting to be redirected, and allowing God to send me in the direction of His choosing with gracious flexibility is the desire of my heart!
So what do we do about the things we can’t move on our calendars, like our jobs? I had to stop and pray about that. And you know what? I already knew the answer! It’s Colossians 3:23-24… ‘Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.’
My friends, as long as God has us in the workforce, we are to be as diligent there as if God were our direct supervisor. Because He is. We answer to Him for our behaviour, attitude, ethics, and productivity at work, as much as anywhere else.
Colossians 3:12, 14-15 gives clear direction: ‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience… And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts… And be thankful.’
Work is not an excuse to be ungracious!
God expects us to apply ourselves heartily there and also be gracious and available. We need to be patient with inconveniences and consider interruptions as opportunities to pivot for Him. We need to view them as divine appointments.
How? I’d love to hear your ideas, dear friends.
I think one way is to make Him Lord of our calendars. If He wants to add or delete something, it is His prerogative.
God knows what we’re capable of, and what we’re not; and what’s more, He promises to help us accomplish everything He puts on our agendas, as Ephesians 3:20-21 says: ‘Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.’
How Flexible are You?
You know, this is one of those things which I believe would be world-changing if we could get it right. It would make Christians more likeable, for starters. Can you imagine us, a whole section of society, not only immune from anxiety, but flexible and gracious, and happy to help?
That is something the unsaved would want in on. Right? I’ll bet our communities would be knocking at the doors of our churches to know what we have that they don’t.
But it is one thing to know something like this and quite another to accomplish, isn’t it? It really shouldn’t be. Not if we work for the Lord and allow Him to work in us. Philippians 1:6 is encouraging here: ‘…being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’
So then… how flexible are you? If you also struggle with last minute schedule changes and unplanned interruptions, talk to me via a Comment. If you’re someone who has this figured out, please share with the rest of us. Let’s encourage each other and do what it takes to get this right! (And don’t forget to mention if you limber too – oh how I would love to put sunscreen on my own back!)
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Mama Lava delights to share openly and honestly from her heart, She sincerely believes in making the big world a bit smaller through caringly connecting, that Jesus wants to remove our anxieties and give us His joy. In her encouragements, she regularly tells of life experiences from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint. Link: Mama Lava’s Back Porch (Doses of Maternal Love).
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Connecting with You! 
Thanks for sharing your interesting thoughts. I don’t have it all figured out, but since I retired from work some years ago (where I sought to be as flexible as possible in my attitude) no longer constrained with that responsibility, it has given me increased capacity to be flexible with my time. I try to be flexible with my wife’s request for things to do around the house, or places to go. I try to be flexible with my wider family, helping out with those little crises which can spring up were grandparents can be useful. I try to be flexible in my Christian service especially in relation to my home church fellowship.
Scripture teaches me Jesus was flexible in His attitude such as the feeding of the crowd with the loaves and fish, when His disciples didn’t know how to handle that situation. I should confess, I am a fairly organised person, so I do plan to a greater or lesser degree, yet flexible enough to allow for last minute changes! As the words of an old song say, ‘He’s still working on me, to make me what I ought to be.’ So in my 70th decade God still sees me as a work in progress, how flexible He is!
True Brian! We answer to the most flexible Boss of all, God! And He helps us through our struggles, and wants us to be like Him, so we can be sure He will give us opportunities to grow and practise in the area of flexibility. I think I need to start by changing my attitude about work.
God has me there for a reason, and with no end in sight. I feel conflicted inside because it takes so much of my time and energy, leaving little else for what I sense God nudging me to do. And I’m the type to try to accomplish it all. I really just need to put those stresses in God’s hands and let Him sort it out. He knows where my strength starts and stops each day, and He will either give me more or show me what I need to lay at His feet (or both!). It’s tough because I used to have more energy. Age has a way of changing things. Thank you for your thoughtful comment and your encouragement. Retirement sounds so nice! But since it doesn’t show itself on my horizon yet, I’ll keep my sights on the flexible Boss we serve!