Are You Spiritually Malleable?

Spiritually malleable is the practice of having a pliable, workable and obedient spirit. Then there is spiritual restriction. The practice of limiting or curtailing one’s spirit from responding to a call. I’ve been pondering this over the summer.

“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water” (John 21:7). Some versions say Peter plunged in, threw himself in, or cast himself into the sea. Peter’s response seemed so natural. Jesus called and Peter responded with complete freedom and confidence.

Peter didn’t seem to worry about plunging into a deep, dark, unknown sea, full of potential dangers. He saw the Lord. John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, confirmed it and Peter leapt out of safety into the unknown. In a nutshell, isn’t that the call, the discernment, and the response?

I think I used to be much more willing to jump out of the boat when the Lord called. That’s not to say, I didn’t question or wrestle with a calling. But, there seemed to be more malleability to my spirit. In a sense, I grasp Peter’s impulsivity to jump from the boat when Jesus stood before him. Maybe what appeared to be impulsivity on Peter’s part was really spiritual malleability. 

Brokenness collide

Life, ministry and our brokenness collide and over the course of time, circumstances change our perspectives; events leave us gun shy; interactions with others produce resentment; outcomes create feelings of rejection and self-doubt. It appears my response time has been affected. The restriction of our spirit can be a slow process, so innocuous, really. It has taken me years to realize I am no longer jumping out of the boat, and worse yet, at times, I wish I were back on the shore. 

Discernment cannot be overlooked. It is key to discern the will of God so we move in conjunction with Him. However, as I reflect, I can see specific instances where past negative experiences produced self-doubt, rejection, resentment, etc, and subsequently restricted my response to the Lord’s recent callings. Why? For fear that what I experienced in the past would happen again. Or in others words, my past experiences and fears have kept me tethered to those previous events, circumstances or people and left me unable to move out of the boat. 

Spiritually malleable 

That’s the goal. Moving to a place of holy detachment where the outcome of the call is immaterial. As Oswald Chambers reminds us in My Utmost for His Highest, “If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are. As we grow in the Christian life, it becomes simpler to us, because we are less inclined to say, “I wonder why God allowed this or that?” I don’t want to wonder anymore.

Lord, are there past experiences that are holding me hostage in the boat? Am I afraid to leave the security of the boat or the comfort of the shore? Reveal those to me and cut me free. Restore in me a malleable spirit that jumps out of the boat at the sound of your voice and plunges into the sea.