Balance

I started reading another booklet this morning called, 'Taking Care of Your Soul' and it has me thinking about the desires we might have for balance in our life. The booklet starts off talking about Adam and how after the fall his spiritual development fell behind his emotional and intellectual development which caused imbalance.

"then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." - Genesis 2:7 ESV

"but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."" - Genesis 2:17 ESV

Adam had lived as he was created. God's breath sustained him in the garden but after the fall his spiritual capacity was dead but his body was alive for a season without it and there was imbalance. The whole world became that way.

"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--" - Romans 5:12 ESV

We long for balance. Maybe we want more vacation or relaxation time. Perhaps we eat to much and exercise to little. It has been raining here so much lately and I'd like a little more sun to balance this rain.

Some think that full time ministry will fill a certain void and it is an understandable desire. I think what we really need is to have the breath of God regulating us again. We need what Adam needed. We will never have what he had but our needs can still be met because of what Jesus did. He took our bullet and there are many mansions in His Father's kingdom that we will see later but right here in the in-between of life we can have balance.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." - 2 Peter 1:3-10 ESV

An intake of the Bible keeps our spiritual airways clear and functioning. Grace is oxygen for our spiritual life. If we are cut off from it in our thinking then we lapse back into a purely biological life of imbalance.

We don't have to strive. We inhale acceptance and then exhale in a steady flow. This simple balance is what we need to function and go forward in our calling.

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The Balance Of Abundance And Need

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble." - Philippians 4:11-14 ESV

I'm meditating on this passage today. I got here after reading some of my booklet and looking at verses quoted in the booklet but this passage is where I ended up. The booklet is about honor and this passage isn't quoted in the part that a was reading but some mornings are like that. What you study or read sparks something and brings you down a different path.

The writer is explaining the balance of hunger and contentment. He has learned how to endure the extremes of both because he always keeps a balance of both at all times. The flow is not hindered by a 'I have enough' or a 'I don't have enough' evaluation. Ability is given and there is a strengthening flow.

Bitterness and self-preservation are effectively removed from the equation.

If God adds people as companions it is a bonus. It is something to be grateful for. It is a grace gift and not a necessity or a prerequisite for joy.

As I think about these things I am refreshed with truth and my heart finds balance again. I am strengthened to live in gratefulness and longing. Stones of need can weigh down one side of the scale but as I am stirred up in gratefulness weights are added to the other side until both sides float in the air in balance.

I can do all things once God has rebalanced me. I see what I have been given as a grace gift when I am empowered again.

"...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31 ESV

Yes. Because yesterday is not weighing us down and tomorrow is in God's hands. Today is a day of balance. Nothing is missing. We have all that we need to face the day. God is our strength. God has covered our past and His plan is our future. We can do all things.

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