Balance

I spend at least 8 hours a day on the phone. I get close to 100 emails a day. I send close to 50 emails a day.  I’m continuously chatting on AOL 8 hours a day. We live in a culture which is overstimulated with messages and demands. How do we sort through all these and find balance in our lives?

How do you handle the pressure of what the boss is telling you to do, what your spouse is asking you to do, what the kids want you to do, what the school is requiring of you, what the church is calling for you to do, the expectations of friends, extended family, and community?

There are several approaches. When someone asks them to do something, they try to do it even if they don’t have time or don’t want to do it. They are people pleasers. They cannot say, “No.” Sometimes people try to do it all because they live for “a filled to overflowing” calendar. The more they have to do, the better they like it.

Some people handle it by withdrawing from everything. They never join anything, or if they were involved they quit everything they used to do. It’s the only way they know how to handle it.

Some withdraw by retreating into a world of fantasy. They enter a false world where they do not have to be involved with other people on a real level. They sit for hours in front of the television, read countless books or watch an endless string of movies. They retreat into the chat rooms of the internet with its pretend relationships. Fantasy becomes preferable to reality.

Some become sullen and non-communicative in their withdrawal from life.

There must be balance.

I have experienced all of these, and in some ways still do.  This has been an issue in my life for a while now and “Thank God!” I have accountability partners, friends and family. They have been questioning my balance for a few months now. They have been concerned and it’s about time I listen!

There must be a balance between home, work, rest and fun. There has to be a balance between the physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual part of you.

If you are going to have balance in your life you have to have the following 3 ‘P’s:

·         PURPOSE: You have to discover your PURPOSE. This is the core question of our lives. The Bible says, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” Romans 14:8 our lives are not our own. We belong to God.

Your primary purpose here is not to be successful or have a wonderful career. Your purpose is not to be happy or earn a lot of money. Your purpose is not even to find love and have a family. The Bible says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matthew 6:33

·         PRIORITIES: You have to establish your PRIORITIES. Ask yourself, “What are my gifts? What are the specific talents and interests that God has put into my life? The reason that these questions are important is that you may be doing many good things, but you may not be doing the things that God has in mind for you.

Priorities have to be set when the choice is between what is good and what is best — between what will be beneficial and what is actually God’s will for you. He has made you with particular interests, skills and gifts. Setting priorities helps you to trim down your involvement to a reasonable level.

Here is the bottom line: If you do not take charge of your life, someone else will. Someone else will be making your life decisions and determining how your time is being spent. God has given you the responsibility of ordering your life — no one else. You cannot learn to say ‘no’ until you understand your purpose and set your priorities.

·         PLAN: If you are going to have balance in your life you have to plan on how to make it happen, otherwise it will never happen. You have just enough time to do what God wants you to do.

If the earth ever got out of balance it would spin chaotically into space destroying life as we know it. The same is true of your life. Jesus Christ needs to be at the center of your life, and all other things need to come from your relationship with him if there is to be balance in your life.

Paul wrote: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” Colossians 1:17

When your life is in balance you will find more contentment, and you will be more confident. You will be free to be yourself, and not as pressured by the expectations of other people. You will grow closer to God and your relationships will be richer.