Today’s 333 Devotional: “Be Flexible”
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a pole vaulter’s pole broke mid-air preventing them from completing the competition. This got me thinking about the need for flexibility.
In pole-vaulting, if the person wants to get above the bar, their pole must flexible enough to bend but not break. But if it is too flexible it will bend but give no lift. So, the key is to make sure the pole has the right flexibility.
One of my favorite sayings is “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken.”
In the Bible you’ll find this unwillingness to bend in many ways like when Pharaoh hardened his heart refusing freedom to the Israelites, and the consequences were ten plagues, the last one being the death of the first born.
This unwillingness to bend oneself to God can also be seen when God called Israel “stiff-necked,” and “hard-hearted,” and the consequences were severe. God allowed their enemies to rule over them, and then Babylon came and took them as captives, destroying Jerusalem.
And such consequences are waiting for everyone who remains in this state, who hardens their hearts toward God, refusing to bend and obey.
The Bible says, “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed–without remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1)
Paul said in Romans 2:5, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”
The people were unwilling and refused to bend to God’s will, and thus they were experiencing God’s judgment as a result.
Being flexible to God was at the heart of Evan Robert’s simple prayer that changed not only his life, but also the world as revival swept around the globe. His prayer was three simple words, “Lord, bend me.”
If we want to live above the bar, we need to be flexible and bendable to God’s will and stop being stiff necked and hard hearted.
CONSIDER ANOTHER PASSAGE: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1)
