Devotional: Flexibility

When I was 10 years old my siblings and I were sat down in the living room to have a “talking to” by our parents. We weren’t sure what it would be about since none of us did anything to get in trouble and our family was poor so we knew it wouldn’t be a surprise trip to Disneyland. Our parents actually sat us down to tell us that they were getting a divorce. We couldn’t believe it! How could this happen to our family? We knew our father had problems with his anger as yelling and fighting was the normal in our house, but we just figured that was normal. Well it turned out that our father had been cheating on our mother for the past few years and the guilt finally swelled up inside so much that he just had to tell her. When my mother found out she knew that she couldn’t stay married to a man who had dishonored the marriage vows in such a heinous way. We didn’t know what to, as the oldest I felt it my responsibility to be strong but we were all in tears. It was truly the worst day of my life. After visits to my dad’s house followed every other weekend as my mom was constantly going to see the lawyer. Years passed and it was all too much for us to handle. Eventually my mother shut down and depression set in. Here I was now at 12 years old finding myself taking care of the household. I was always the first one up dressed and ready for school and found myself having to talk my mother into getting out of bed each day. Clearly this was a responsibility I was not ready for at such a young age. As time went on our family grew further and further apart.

Out of everything that happened I think the one thing that I can take away most is to be flexible. We can plan out as much as we want, but things happen that are beyond our control. The attitude we choose during times like this can have a huge effect on our lives. But it’s just not with the big changes in life. It could be as something as simple as having to take another road because of an accident or needing to take an extra step to complete a project. My point in all of this is that the one thing we can control is our attitude. Tragedy occurs every day, but the people who survive are the ones who don’t let it stop them. By all accounts and statistics I should be a failure in life. Children from broken and fatherless homes are much more likely to end up depressed, in jail, or commit suicide. But my God had a plan for me that I did not see and worked all the bad things out for His glory.

This week I want to challenge you to be flexible and ready for changes to happen. Now that doesn’t mean that you should throw caution to the wind and not plan. Smart and successful people know the value of plans, but they also know how to accept change. The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects the wind to change, but the leader adjusts the sails. Be a leader this week and press into God.