FLEXING LIKE STEEL

​Karen and i own a cabin on a lake in the mountains.  It’s an incredible gift from God, that we could have never afforded if we hadn’t rented it out to others when we weren’t using it ourselves, to cover all the bills.  After the mortgage was paid off, however, God led us to shift gears.  Now we don’t charge people to use our cabin; we let them stay there for free.
 
For some of the families we know, it’s become the only way they can afford to take a vacation.  Everyone seems really grateful and most of them treat our place like it’s theirs, which is really cool.  But something strange happens when there’s no money involved.  People feel free to change their plans, and usually do. Virtually everyone who’s used our cabin this year has done that.  They come or leave on different dates than they expected, or don’t show up at all.  And some people end up coming and staying for days without any notice or plans.
 
That makes keeping the cabin available challenging, as you might imagine.  Unless we remind them, people don’t seem to grasp that if we’ve set our place aside for them and they don’t end up using it, they might be keeping it from others, whom we told it was booked.  That’s happened multiple times this summer, and seemed to be happening again this week.
 
The day before friends of ours were scheduled to begin their stay, they texted us to say they weren’t coming.  Part of me wasn’t surprised, because like i said, it happens often.  But another part of me was troubled, because i knew this particular family really needed some cabin time and because i had asked God when i was prepping the cabin for their arrival whether they were actually going to show up, and He said yes, they were coming.
 
So when i got their text saying they weren’t coming, i immediately thought that i had misunderstood God.  i asked Him to forgive me, for not hearing Him clearly, and i began praying for the family that God would bless them, however they chose to spend their time.  The next day i was able to talk with them about what was causing them to rethink their plans, and we prayed that God would work everything out.  Praise God that He did, and the family is now enjoying their Labor Day weekend in the mountains!
 
As for me, i began to wonder why i had so quickly doubted what God had said was going to happen.  As i prayed into that, i realized how incredibly challenging it is for me to know how to respond when things aren’t lining up with how i understand God is working.
 
On the one hand, i have to hold everything i think i know loosely, for the one who clings too tightly to that kind of knowing is destined to forsake God.  1 Corinthians 8:2  On the other hand, i need to put all my trust in God and fully rely upon His word - not just His written word as evangelicals like to do, but the specific word He is speaking into the moment, as charismatics like to do.
 
It’s truly a narrow road, and i can fall off one side or the other if i get too confident in what i think i’ve heard from God, or if i quickly abandon what i’ve heard simply because it doesn’t seem to be lining up with how things are turning out.  True humility perseveres in faith against all odds to pray like a child.  Yet it takes great maturity and surrender to distinguish between how God is actually speaking and moving from how i wish He might speak and move.
 
Only by abiding in Jesus can we remain steadfast and flexible at the same time.  As we fix our eyes on Him, He flexes His steely resolve through us.