Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Anyone Need Balance? Step Forward Please!

Balance Rock
This rock is legit. It's the perfect picture of balance. It is called Balance Rock and it's found in the National Monument in the Rockies in western Colorado. 

From a distance it appears that one big gust of wind could knock that large boulder into next week. The boulder is perfectly perched on a rock pedestal.  One long Oklahoma gust of southern wind that we experience on every other day is all it would take to send it landsliding. It seems it wouldn't take much to make it tilt or teeter.

It's ironic.


Upon closer inspection it seems to be pretty established, very stable atop the thin hardened layers of rock, forming it's base for years and years.  It appears stable, and it an old formation according to the pamphlet.

Will all those who need more balance in your life please raise a hand? I need to hear from you desperately. I need to know that I am not the only one who suffers from the wild pendulum swings of crazy-go-nuts days filled with a "to-do-list" the size of Texas. 

One thing I do know is that I need more of it. And it took God a couple times of knocking me off balance to realize it. I tend to topple a lot. In fact, in the past month I have fallen twice.

No...not on purpose. I was doing something I shouldn't have or was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But God reminded me that balance is a good thing, and a needed component that I can be use to maintain a consistent schedule, and the stability needed in my emotions, commitments and priorities. When things get out of whack I overcompensate. I get heavy brained and feel guilty, so I launch into a "I must try harder or I am not doing enough" campaign to win all the hearts of America. 


It is hard to find balance in one's life when so many things are tugging at us with commitments to family, friends and others; guilt when we believe we do not do enough; our perceived ideas about what others think about us; caring too much; feeling inadequate when we cannot make wrongs right; the burdens of the day; and on and on and on....

Guess what happens? I fall down. I dust myself off and try again....and again. Thinking surely I will get it right...one day. And then I hit the wall...and fall flat....exhausted and out of energy and come to a dead stop.

There is no easy formula to create perfect balance in your life. But I have come across a few ideas that might help a little:

1. Take time and energy to your feed spiritual needs or time with Jesus.

2. Get more sleep, in our go-go lives, don't we all need a nap?

3. Get yourself a hobby...even if it's looking at Pinterest for just for five minutes a day, do something that brings you joy. Everyone needs some kind of outlet for all that emotional stuff that tends to pile up in our heart's corners.


God didn't program us to be so busy or work 24/7, but he did call us to be stewards of our time, talent, and resources. So I am thinking twice about what plates I am spinning at the moment. 

This verse helps me find balance: John 3:18-19 "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence."

God's truth stabilizes my heart to God's heart and aligns my truth with His love. His Love anchors me in His truth. His Love anchors my hope. His Love anchors deep.  If I stay anchored to God's love and act on His truth that will keep me in a state of dynamic stability. 

When you take a closer look at the rock formation up above it's not really a boulder sitting on a rock pedestal.  The elements of time have shaped the rock to appear that way. The top boulder part is really anchored to the bottom pedestal. There is a deep rock bed that anchors this natural masterpiece. It is in a state of dynamic stability.

Tell me how you have found balance?

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I am blind in my right eye, have been since I was 3. So I know what it is like to be off balance. I stay in a constant state of unbalance. Its not bad most days but there are days when it is hard to sit up let alone stand and that is just my physical life. In my spiritual life I know that to keep my "balance" I have to spend that quiet time with God. Reading His word and praying, talking to Him. If I dont my whole day is off. And there is nothing worse than to be off balance in both my physical and spiritual life. I need Him, every second, minute, every day!!