Finding And Keeping Your Balance

“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” — Psalm 1:1-3

It is so difficult to find our balance in this life of ours. The balance between living our natural life and living our new, spiritual one. They are all in the same body – so in a way they are one – but they are not. There is a tension that we live with. So many wonderful things about life – love – laughter – friends – family – joy. Anyone can experience those things – you don’t have to be born again to do that necessarily. And, as with the good – we experience the bad as well.  We all face and endure hardships. Pain – suffering – loss. It is a crazy life isn’t it? The thing is – that there is a greater reality than the day to day existence – good and bad that is all around – everyone. But only those who have surrendered their lives to God by faith in Jesus know it – experience it.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6-7

There is a peace that rests in us that is supernatural that helps us with finding balance. Peace the supersedes any circumstance – good or bad that we might experience. I just watched a movie with Martie about a woman trying to find “it” – getting into relationships for the wrong reason – seeking God in the wrong places – until she determined that what she was looking for was within. That is much like our faith. The Spirit of God is deposited in each Believer at the point of our conversion. – we are “sealed” with the Spirit – God’s own possession. We are born into a new reality – one that takes us beyond the natural.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:22-25

At least that is God’s intent for us. That we would exude the fragrance of Christ. That the fruit of the Spirit would be so evident in our lives – no matter if good or bad should come our way. That our very lives would be a testimony to the Grace and Mercy and Transformational Power of God.  Yeah – that’s us or at least what we can be – if we can only find and keep our balance. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with it sometimes – keeping my balance. Like walking on a balance beam – you fall off sometimes. But good news! You can get back on the beam.  I just had a thought – or remembrance of monkey bridges – strange name – in Vietnam we would cross streams when we were on patrols – we crossed on what were branches or poles – called monkey bridges. Challenging – and what made it more difficult was that the Viet Cong (VC) would put punji stakes under the water along side the monkey bridges – if you fell off the bridge – lost your balance – the consequences were not good. A lot like living our lives in the world. Falling off – losing my balance can result in unpleasant consequences. I could go on with that analogy, but I think you get the point.

To maintain our balance there are 4 essentials that we should discipline ourselves to follow – Meditating on the Word, Prayer, Witnessing ( not necessarily on a street corner – but being ready to speak into someone’s life) and Fellowship – maintaining relationships with other Christians.  All part of having a balanced life. We should not neglect any of them – but very often do for any number of reasons that we thing are justifiable.  We rationalize why we don’t – by the way another way to look at the word “rationalize” is that we tell ourselves “Rational Lies” convincing ourselves that it is really not all that important – we can wait until Sunday.

Does that describe you? I want to encourage you to let your light Shine Bright my friend and give God the place and glory He is due.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone