Balancing God and Life, Part 1: Intro
“Balance is impossible, what’s the point?”
“I want to crawl into a hole and die”
“I am perfectly balanced in every way. What’s the big deal?”
“I’d much rather read about Fitness Friday Girl gaining weight. I’ll be back in a few days.”
“I don’t have time for this girlie nonsense, next blog please.”
“HELP!”
This is what comes to my mind
Maybe it’s just me, but the concept of balance in life often seems unattainable, at least for the long-term. I go through seasons where I feel well-balanced, only to have some element of my life change, throwing me off balance again. Sometimes it can be something as large as a relocation or a small as an uncooperative child. Or a small, uncooperative child. Whatever.
I do not believe it’s God’s plan for us to constantly feel overwhelmed with our responsibilities. It’s oppressive. It’s distracting. It’s disheartening. I believe it’s one of the many tactics of the Enemy to make us ineffective. For me, being off balance keeps me from hearing God’s voice. When I can’t hear His voice, I can’t do His will. And, voila…I’m ineffective.
This is why I’m doing this series. I figure is this is an ongoing battle for me, it must be an ongoing battle for some of you, too. Because Satan uses the same tactics on all of us…he’s so NOT creative.
Which brings me to a few Balancing Basics:
~Balancing the demands of life is a continuing effort~
~Balancing the demands of life requires constant adjustment~
~Balancing the demands of life requires a certain mindset~
~Balancing the demands of life requires good time management~
~Balancing the demands of life is different for each person~
~Balancing the demands of life requires an eternal perspective~
~Balancing the demands of life is necessary if we want to hear God and accomplish our eternal purpose~
Over the next several posts, we’ll unpack each of those Balancing Basics. We’ll talk about priorities and prayer, mealtime and ministry, friendships and faith, computer time and communion with God, the secular and the sacred.
We’ll also talk to some of my favorite people, who I think do a great job of keeping all the plates in air, and discover some of their balancing secrets. Some of this will be very spiritual. And some of it will be surprising practical.
Oh, I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it.
As we begin, I’d like to hear from some of my other favorite people…YOU. Tell me, what hinders YOU from living a balanced life?
Sandy,
Thank you for this post and I look forward to reading more in this series as you unpack the balancing basics. I have times when I do really good with balance and then there are times when I just don't do good at all. Like you said, "For me, being off balance keeps me from hearing God’s voice. When I can’t hear His voice, I can’t do His will. And, voila…I’m ineffective." This is so true Sister! Thanks for always sharing truth with us!
Blessings to you and your family!
This is such a great idea–I love it! I'd have to say that living this busy, American life is what throws me out of whack. I let everything else crowd in until, sometimes, God seems like He's just waiting on the sidelines for me to notice Him.
Your timing is perfect! My life felt completely out of balance at the beginning of this year. As always I prayed about what I should give up for Lent, what would draw me closer to God? The answer came…Television. My children were mortified…how would I ever be able to survive if I gave that up!?!? That's a whole other story, suffice to say that to me the answer made perfect sense. However during the first two weeks of Lent, life was never more out of balance! It took me a day or so to really see clearly, and you are right, Satan is not creative, just clever. He through more disguised distractions my way until I was so out-of-balance and feeling and out-of-control that I was overwhelmed and barely able to function. Drawing closer to God really made me Satan's target…. I focused on "greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world" this totally strengthened me, centered my focus and resolve and my balance is being restored as I had hoped. All this to answer your question of what hinders me in living a balanced life: Satan takes any little opening and just storms through my life and run amucks leaving his wake behind and me wondering what just happened if I am not carefully centered and focused on Christ. This will be a great series.
You make me smile.
I love that perfect picture…can't wait to read the series!
I wrote a post last year or the year before that was a picture of plate juggling…i'm familiar with the juggle!! can't wait to learn with ya!! not much news as of yet…xoxo
I require a certain amount of quiet in my life ~ especially if I can have an hour or two in the morning to read, pray, think and drink tea. If I have too many days without that, I start to feel very out of balance. I am new to your site and look forward to this series.
It seems I came just in time for this series. The first of the year always throws me off kilter: taxes, FAFSA, tuition payments (big ones) for college, have I mentioned taxes? My health issues also seem to rear its ugly head around this time. Hmmmm, stress = health issues. You think they could be related? 🙂
I am looking forward to visiting more often.
Yes, we all need God´s perfect balance in our lives. It´s key. I pray for it alot. a calm, a peace, organization without stress, a meekness, they only come when my heart is in tune with Him. It´s so vital.
Ok.. going to practice what we preach. =)
Dani Joy
Sounds like a great series Sandy. I'm actually in a bible study right now and the title of the study is "Discovering Balance" (or something very similar!). This has been SUCH a struggle for me, especially with children and I think you are ABSOLUTELY right…it becomes oppressive and that is not where God intends us to be…Looking forward to your insights…this message seems to be everywhere in my life right now…funny how that works!!
All that said, food for thought…one of my bible study gals read a devotional to us at bible study yesterday that said the following…"God does not desire our lives to be in balance, but actually out of balance…with our efforts towards seeking him first and doing his will outweighing all of the other stuff in our lives…" an interesting mental picture…and something I'm still wrapping my head around!
look forward to reading more!