BLESSED ARE THE FLEXIBLE FOR THEY SHALL NOT BE BROKEN
(ACTS 18:9-11)
This third principle is a necessity if you're adhering to the first two. In fact, you can't do the first two without being flexible. Lack of flexibility is why we're often attracted to pre-packaged programs; we like our lives to be regimented, scheduled, so we know what to do and when. It drives our flesh crazy to not have a five-year plan.
Any ministry associated with Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa must be flexible, "instant in season and out", and ready to be used of God at any time in any way. If you're not flexible, you'll break.
In ministry, there are no interruptions, just opportunities to minister the love of God to others. If our lives are guided by the Holy Spirit, we need to be open to hearing and obeying His voice as He speaks to us from His Word.
It's not necessarily wrong to have a schedule, only to be a slave to it. Perhaps God has other plans. I planned to write letters today and tie up administrative details, but maybe God's plan for me was to visit in the hospital or share Christ with the letter carrier. Walking in the Spirit implies an openness to have one's schedule rearranged. Everything God wants done will get done.
Of course, we need to be diligent, good stewards over our time, well organized. But simultaneously, we must be flexible, able to accept change, willing to go wherever the Lord leads. In a big ministry that God is blessing, you may be called on at a moment's notice to teach a Bible study, pray with someone, counsel another, or fix the air conditioner.
The flexible never break.
