Staying Flexible

September 5, 2023 by Warren (Barney) Barnhart

Have you ever heard of a character called Gumby? He was very popular a few years back and occasionally I will see something that reminds me of him. He was a green clay figure who became animated with a unique personality.  According to Wikipedia, the United States Marine Corp even developed some language regarding this character.  They referred to it as “Semper Gumby” – which was a “Colloquialism denoting tactical flexibility and the ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances, from the flexibility of the character in the children’s animated show Gumby.”

I have used the phrase “stay flexible Gumby” when speaking to someone about a situation or circumstance that had some unknowns to it.  It might require a completely different course of action that what we had expected or were prepared for.  Ever found yourself there?

I know it is a simple and silly example, but the point remains.  Are we flexible enough to adapt to circumstances and situations as they arise unexpectedly?

This life we are all living requires of us to deal with the expected and the unexpected.  The death of a loved one, a bill we forgot to pay, a missed phone call or a delay in our travel plans.  The list could go on endlessly I suppose, but again, how do we adapt to change?

Many resist change stubbornly, others are wary, while others welcome it and embrace it. How about you?  Are you flexible? Does everything have to fit in a certain box for you to be happy and or peaceful? If so you, (and actually all of us) can benefit from being more Gumby-like. 

As we look at the lifestyle and circumstances and conditions in the days Jesus walked this earth,  was everything right politically, socially, or morally? Was there unrest and concern in a similar fashion as to the culture of today?

Jesus made some remarkable statements, as well as adjusted and adapted as the situations warranted.  He had a plan, but he was always willing to stay open to God and change course when needed.

We have neither the time or space to rehearse all that he did and said, but this I do know, he graciously provided knowledge, resources and lived by example to those he served and ministered to.

Matthew 6:25-34 KJV

²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

How flexible are you, really?

Endeavoring to live the Christian life by your own efforts is the greatest single hindrance to walking in the spirit. – Derek Prince