I like life to look a lot like this:
AREN'T THEY CUTE?? They're so tiny and fuzzy and perfectly in a row, waiting for their turn to climb up over the ginormous mountain in front of them. That's what I like life to be like. One by one, my little "ducks" -- events, people, decisions, whatever -- all overcome the obstacle in front of them. Perfectly in a row. Not going, "HEY what's that over there?" and running out of line to dance in the middle of the street. No. My ducks stay in a row, by golly, and if they don't, then I'm not a happy camper.
However, most of the time, my ducks look a lot more like this:
And I'm like, "HEY! What are you doing? Aren't you all supposed to be in a row? You know, being cute and fluffy? I mean, not that you're not cute and fluffy still, but I want you in a ROW!! And YOOOOOOU! BIG DUCK!! What is the meaning of this? Aren't you supposed to keep them all perfectly ordered for me??"
Jesus has been teaching me a lot about not needing all my ducks to be in a row.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience..."
There's nothing wrong with having a plan. There's nothing wrong with knowing exactly what we're going to do, when we're going to do it, and what's going to come of it. After all, many, many times in the Bible, God not only told His people what to say, but He told them what would be said in response to their message!
But we are supposed to be like Christ; and Christ was unruffled when His evening's plans were interrupted. When Jesus' dear friend John the Baptist died, Jesus "withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." I can only imagine He wanted some time to process His grief. He wanted to be by Himself, in order to talk with His Father and mourn for His beloved friend.
But being Jesus, He wasn't left alone long. People followed Him. I can imagine what my response would have been: "Are you people stupid? Can't you see I'm mourning here? This duck is no longer in line, and I need a little time to get it back where it's supposed to be, okay? I'll deal with you when I'm ready, just please, go away!!"
That's not what Jesus did. Jesus "had compassion on them and healed their sick." He didn't latch onto the nearest excuse to send them away to get their own food; He fed them (all five thousand -- and that was just the men). He loved them. He let the "duck" of His grief get out of the row, trusting that His Father would gently urge it back into line when the time was right.
Things don't always go the way we want them to. But it's in those moments that miracles occur.
Flexibility. A willingness to "go with the flow." That's what God has been impressing on my heart. He doesn't want life to be a list with everything laid out, everything familiar, nothing mysterious. "What need have we of a guide were the path a familiar one?" asked Elisabeth Elliot. Moments of uncertainty are when we look into our Guide's face and ask, "Where next, Daddy?" It is those moments when we experience intimacy and direction like never before.
My ducks aren't always in a row. But that's okay. They're still ducks. They're still cute and fluffy. They'll still get where they need to go.
It'll just be more of an adventure along the way.
