Flexibility…
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. Mark 1:16-20
The wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher. Lao Tzu
On my first solo camp trip, with just my pup and I, my whole itinerary was planned out. I had a specific hike planned for each day to make the best use possible of my time. The first night, I hardly slept, yet I moved forward with my plan to do an extremely difficult hike that day. As you might surmise, it didn’t go well at all. It was grueling and felt like a difficult task rather than the joyful adventure that I had envisioned. You would think that I would have turned around part way along the trail, but, no, I stubbornly persisted in going to at least one of the two lakes at the end of the trail. I must say that the grey cloudy skies at the lake very much mirrored my attitude (especially knowing that I had miles to go to retrace my steps before getting back to camp).
The following year, I again planned a solo camp trip. This time, I had a list of beautiful potential hikes with information on lengths and difficulty for each. I decided to wait to see how I felt each morning, then prayerfully choose which hike to go on. What a wonderful four days of camping and hiking I experienced because the hike each day was prayerfully decided upon. While on one of those hikes, I saw this young aspen, bent from snow and other trees, yet thriving due to its flexibility. Such a good object lesson for me.
In today’s scripture, we look at Jesus calling Simon and Andrew to join him in ministry. The two were fishermen; that’s all the life that they had ever known. Yet when Jesus called for them to follow Him, they left their nets behind and followed. Because they were flexible in the face of many unknowns, they got to spend three years with our Lord and Savior living with Him and learning from Him. Wow. Their decision to be flexible changed not only their lives, but the lives of countless others.
The key for both Simon and Andrew, and myself when hiking, was to listen to God and be flexible with plans. It’s hard for those of us who hold tightly to the illusion that we control our world, but what a journey when we are willing to follow God’s plan, rather than ours!