The Ministry of Adaptability and Flexibility

Intro

I want to take a few moments with you tonight and talk about the ministry of adaptability and flexibility.

What do I mean by that? Simply put, how God can (and will) use interruptions in your lives and plans this summer to bring glory to Him and fulfill His will in and through you.

In a more detailed sense, you are going to wake up every morning this summer with an idea of what you think or what you want your day to look like. You, if you are like me, may have every detail of your day planned out in your mind. This is what you want to happen and this is when and how you want it to happen.

This is truly unrealistic.

There are going to be moments every single day this summer that you have to adapt to and be flexible with.

Respond well to Unexpected Events

The first thing we need to think about when it comes to how God can use you through interruption is how you respond to unexpected events.

I think of Jesus and the woman with the blood disease.

For 12 years she had a mysterious blood disease and nobody could help her, rather it kept getting worse. She knew, once she had heard about Jesus, that He could heal her. So, she pressed through the crowd and by faith touched just the hem of his robe and immediately she was healed.

This was not in Jesus itinerary for the day. He was pressed on every side by a huge crowd likely teaching or healing others and all of the sudden … something unexpected happened.

This summer, something unexpected will happen, and likely often! What if it rains and your plans are changed, what if you are asked to do something outside your “job description,” what if a camper gets sick, what if YOU get sick?

What happened when the unexpected takes place?

You be like Christ and you respond well, be flexible, and adapt.

Jesus could have said “What do you think you are doing? I am obviously busy! Leave me alone…” He could have been angry that his plans for the moment had changed. He could have responded poorly.

But, He didn’t.

30Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”31His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”32But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” (Mark 5:30-35)

Jesus took time, recognized the interruption, and allowed the Father to use Him to bring glory to Himself for the good of the woman. This interruption was good. It was helpful. It was unexpected, but it served to fulfill the will of the Father.

Immediately after this, Jesus was pulled away again to another unexpected situation.

People pulled Jesus to and fro craving his attention and distracting him from what the original plan of the day way.

But, He allowed the Father to direct his day, and people were blessed.

Embrace the Holy Spirit’s Guidance.

When your plans are interrupted, you have to trust the guidance of the Holy Spirit to use you in that moment to bless someone.

Let me give you a real life example. I pastor a church here in town, but I also serve in a few different capacities at a children’s home about 45 minutes from here, one of those role’s is Campus Pastor.

As such, I get the opportunity to help vulnerable children navigate life and spirituality.

On Sunday, at church, during our homecoming potluck, a children’s home staff came to me and said “so and so just found out her grandmother died, will you come talk with her?” Come to find out, the grandmother, the person who raised her and was trying to work with the court system to get her back had suddenly died in the night… she needed her pastor. I needed to be interrupted to bring God glory.

I had to rely solely in the moment on the Spirit’s guidance.

Every day at camp is not going to be a breeze or a hallmark movie. You will have frustrating moments, and in those most frustrating times, a camper is going to tap on your shoulder and need you.

At the same time, another camper is going to tap on your shoulder and need you too.

What do you do?

Rely on the guidance of the spirit and know, everyone needs you differently.

On Sunday, this young girl needed a sympathetic pastor, but last week at the home, I had to be a strict disciplinarian.

As best as you can, adapt in the moment to whom you are speaking. Because every camper is different, they need a different version of you, and your behavior will influence their behavior.

The camper on your left may need a sympathetic counselor, while the camper on the right may need some form of appropriate discipline.

In doing this, just like Jesus with the woman with the blood disease, embrace the guidance of your God to help you in the moment to be what you need to be.

Conclusion

I am excited for this group, I think you all will kill it this summer at camp.

But, as you begin this summer ministry, remember, the Lord will use you through interruption. You can and will minister through your ability to adapt and be flexible in the moment.

Ministry is not a cut and dry 9-5 job, and camp ministry is even further away from that.

Interruption and the unexpected can be one of God’s greatest blessings to your and your campers this summer because God uses interruption, changed plans, and unexpected events to draw you into His will.

You will be stretched this summer, but one thing that you need to allow the Lord to teach you as early as possible is how to adapt to the moment, adapt to the camper, adapt to the problem and allow the Spirit of God within you to guide those wonderful, beautiful, will-of-God interruptions.