Would you describe yourself as balanced? Okay, stop laughing! Few of us have achieved balance. I stress myself out just thinking about it!?! I could write a book called Stressed Out: How I Achieved It While Seeking Balance!
I’m just not balanced enough to write a book about balance, but I know Someone who did.
In fact, He captured the 3 things we need for balance in just one verse from His book. I know you guessed it, the Someone is God and the book is the Bible. But, the verse?
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
Yes, God has shown us what is good, and He requires only what is good and what is good for us.
And girl, if God requires it, then we can do it! I figure that if God—the whole, Holy, and wholly balanced One — gives us a few requirements, and if we fulfill them we will find the balance we long for.
Here are the 3 ways –3 really good ways – to be balanced:
1. Do Justly
To be balanced we must “do justly.” That means we implement rightness toward our family, ministry, and ourselves as we fill in our empty calendar slots. In order to “do justly” we say no sometimes in order to be fair to ourselves, our family, and our God. This is really hard for me! I have to fight the lie that I am being unfair to someone if I tell them no — especially if I don’t have a firm conflict on my calendar!
To “do” justly also means we “do” something – we don’t shrink away from demands that may be challenging; rather we use our limited time and resources in the most wise and reasonable way possible.
2. Love Mercy
To be balanced we must love mercy – this pulls our heart in. Mercy mandates forgiveness and forbearance. We lose the rigidity and celebrate the fact that none of us received what our sins really deserved.
When we love mercy we allow interruptions and accept exceptions because it helps us truly assess what is just and right.
3. Walk Humbly
To be balanced we must walk humbly with our God – this is the best part because we simply position ourselves to intimately journey with God. We don’t run ahead of Him with our agenda and commitments but rather we walk with him as a sincere follower with a modest mind-set. To walk humbly is to be unimpressed with our titles, our accomplishments and even our burdens.
We are most out of balance when we are most full of pride. Okay, rephrase — I am most out of balance when I am most full of pride! I am the most imbalanced when I am way into myself; focused on my needs, my expectations, my disappointments etc. When I am out of balance, I can trace it back to good (or not so good) old-fashioned pride!
Pride makes us impatient, rigid and forgetful of our deep need for God.
When we are full of pride, we don’t “do justly,” we do what we want! When we are full of pride, we don’t ‘love mercy, ‘we like it a little bit but only when it serves us! What we love is our way on our schedule! And, when we are full of pride, we don’t ‘walk humbly with our God.’ Instead, we run ahead, lag behind and weeble and wobble our way through life.
I am most out of balance when I am most full of pride.
Those who truly walk humbly with their God can’t help but do justly and love mercy and become the balanced women God uses.
Let’s keep God’s standard and God’s pace so we’ll be well-balanced!
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25, NIV)
Amen and Amen!
How can you apply those principles in your life to help you experience balance?
