Flexibility is Your Friend, Expectation is Your Enemy
While I was on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ a few years ago I had the opportunity to take a group of students to New Zealand over the summer. It was one of the most fun and simultaneously difficult things I have ever done. A team of 24 Americans in a foreign place with the purpose of sharing the Gospel with people we would meet. There were a few times that we just got worn out and frustrated because of what we encountered, but there was a saying that we pounded into our students during our briefing time that paid dividends later – “Flexibility is Your Friend, Expectation is Your Enemy.” We would say it at the beginning of each meeting and throughout our time overseas. We knew that if our team went into our time overseas thinking things would all go the way they wanted or things would be like they are back home, they would be frustrated and upset pretty quickly.
It was a constant reminder that we needed to be reliant that God had things planned for us and we needed to follow where He wanted us to go, not just where we had thought things would go. As a result, our team was able to rely on God, change with our changing conditions and not get bogged down with certain things not going our way. I am convinced that we would have been able to share the Gospel with as many students or be used by God to see people start a relationship with Jesus if we had been so caught up in our frustration over our circumstance.
As Hamilton Village is coming up on one year (yikes) of being a church, I can’t help but go back to that same phrase – “Flexibility is Your Friend, Expectation is Your Enemy.” Take some time to ask yourself a few questions:
- What are some expectations I’ve had that haven’t worked out like I thought they would?
- What have I missed out on due to my frustration? Am I missing out on sharing the Gospel with those around me?
- How can I be more flexible and follow God in the midst of a foreign territory (planting a church) and not expect things that will get me upset?
- What can I do to help people around me who are getting bogged down by things not going the way they wanted?
I know that God has some big things in store for us and I’m excited about how He is using all of the HV-ers to draw people to the Lord! Just remember that as we go through the processes of growing and changing in our foreign setting – “Flexibility is Your Friend, Expectation is Your Enemy!”