Flexible people are happy people. They experience a lot less stress than rigid types of people who insist on things always being done a certain way. One of the reasons inflexibility is so stressful is that we have to achieve our goals with the help of human beings who often have their own thoughts and ideas, which are different from ours. You might struggle to be receptive to new ways of doing things because you view them as a personal rejection of your own ideas. If that sounds familiar, ask Jesus to help and correct you. The Pharisees were the epitome of perfectionism and inflexibility. When they accused Jesus of not keeping the Sabbath, He said, ‘The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath’ (Mark 2:27 NLT). How flexible are you? Are you so specific at home that your family stays on edge, in constant fear of breaking one of your rules or of not doing things the way you think they should be done? If plans need to be changed, does it send you into a tailspin, or do you stop and consider that God may have a different plan? Don’t try to justify your behaviour by hiding under the cloak of ‘excellence’ or ‘perfectionism’. It’s understandable that you’d like things done in the best way possible; but you also need to understand and be aware of times when your behaviour leaves the realm of being excellent and begins to border on being an inflexible perfectionist, someone who not only creates stress for yourself but for others as well. If any of this resonates, today, God is saying relax. Bend a little. Try going with the flow.
