Week 51: Balance - How well balanced is your Life?

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (King Solomon)

There is more to life than increasing its speed. (Mohandas K. Gandhi)

During my first year in Christian Student Ministry, I heard rather discouraged words (I know that they meant it well, but really – I don’t believe it!) from the old timers that you’ll have a ‘No Life’ as you work for the Lord. “You’ll have little time with your family and friend; and a whole load of works and responsibilities waited ahead of you”, so they said.

Deep down inside my heart I believe the reality that responsibilities and duties may increases but I don’t have to choose between works or family but rather I can choose to do my work and having time with my family at the same time. After all, how effective Christian workers can be if they excel in career (a.k.a. God’s calling) but ignore their family (a.k.a. God’s calling too)? The answer to this is – BALANCE.

Almost everything in life requires balance. Read the Bible must be balance with the doing or obeying the Words. Eating must be balance with exercising. As for my introduction just now, the most difficult of imbalance is between career and family demands. To balance is to be discipline, and to be disciple require time, hard works and sometime sacrifices. Balance just not happens. It’s a choice; you got to decide to live a balance life. Here are some of my practices (or thoughts) that I want to share with you this week but bear in mind that I’m still in the process of improving myself on these things.

Blend Work and Family Well

Much had been writes about this, but since it’s so important – I want to emphasis it over and over again. Theoretically, we vocalized the importance of family over work but truth been displayed that it is the first to be pushed aside from busy schedules. I read a very profound quote that says, the most important work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes. So true… so true… balance it well.

Enjoy the Present

Most ‘busy’ people that I knew personally regret that they never stop to enjoy life a little more. They sort of complained that it’s difficult to take time to smell the roses in the rush of the day. How about you? Do you wish to have placed relationships ahead of things or missions in life ahead of your clocks? Stop it! Slow down; take time to enjoy the present. William Feather once said, “Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.” Hey you! Enjoy the present will ya?!

Schedule Priorities First

This is one of my weaknesses, and until today, I still trying to discipline myself to schedule priorities first. Understand, that there’s a significant difference between prioritizing your schedule (not wise) and scheduling your priorities (very wise). Stephen R. Covey in book Everyday Greatness, writes, “We can stop and pause and reflect. We can decide what is important and separate out that which is urgent but not truly important.”

Living for Today

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow is only a vision, but today, my readers – we lived. Living for today will set your mind on the things that is matter at hand. Often our mind is out of balance when we try to figure out what gonna happen tomorrow and for some, they even allow the past to dwell in today. Living for today, because “you do not know what tomorrow will bring.”(James 4:14)

Get rid of Unbalanced Habits or Hobbies

Control some of your habits or hobbies. Stop watching too much television, long hours of sleeping or addictive computer games. My friend told me that he doesn’t know what to do about his overweight problems. I said to him, “Control your eating habits and get to work – exercise! You know what to do!” What are your unbalanced habits or hobbies? These are the causes of your unbalanced life; you know what to do - get rid of it!

Begin Each Day in Prayer

This is very basic; we all are guilty of this simple yet important step to live a balance life. Ask God to show you what He wants you to get done. When you align your daily agendas with His, your priorities will become clear as crystal, and you will find balance in your life.

Above all, why balance is so important for us is that:

Jesus modeled a Life of Balance

He skilled in balancing between socializing and solitude, between taking actions and time for reflection, between doing His mission and meditation on it; He worked hard but He also took time for spiritual renewal. If you noticed while reading the Gospels, you’ll realize that He left much undone, yet He completed all that God the Father had given Him to do. You don’t have to do everything, just those things that God asking you to do.

In conclusion, I would like to quote from Ronald A. Beers and Amy E. Mason, 

“Balance is about keeping the right pace in life – not moving so fast that you miss God’s call, but not moving so slow that you miss the opportunities God sends you.” Live a balance life!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP. It’s all about balance yo.