Life As A Balancing Act?

When I began writing this blog, it was with the intention of it being this unbiased, generic life-coaching blog. Well, I’ve given up on that and decided to just write. So, it will probably be biased and opinionated. I’ll surely get it wrong and will most likely offend some people. But, here goes anyway…

I was asked a while back to write about how balancing life as a mom, and a wife, and a Christian, and a friend, and all these different roles that we, especially as women, play in our daily lives. This question came from a dear friend that has children much older than my own, a marriage that has lasted longer than any relationship I’ve ever been in, a stronger walk with God than I could begin to imagine. A woman I truly respect and look up to. A woman I admire very much. And yet, here I sat at the table in Panera with her and her children and some friends and she poses this question to me, that really, who among us hasn’t struggled with? It was immensely humbling as I sat and began to realize that I had absolutely no idea how to answer her question, much less what to write an entire blog post about! The best I could come up with was an illustration I heard years back about filling a jar with golf balls, pebbles, sand and coffee. It won’t all fit if you don’t fill the jar in the correct order, and our lives are very much the same way when it comes to priorities.

But after thinking over this for… a few months now, I began looking into what God’s Word has to say about the issue. And, the best I could come up with is this. If we put Him first in our lives, He will fit the rest into place. Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”   But what are “these things” you ask? Matthew 6:25 – “Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” And Jesus goes on in the following verses to describe how the birds of the air and the lilies of the field are cared for (verses 26-30).

Now, do I believe that removes our responsibilities? No. Not by any means. We are responsible to our families and we are responsible for our health and so on. However, if we allow any of those things to come before our devotion to Him, we are filling our jar in the wrong order.

Here is a link to the jar illustration if you’ve never seen it. I can’t take credit for that, but it is a great example that has really stuck with me through the years. http://www.pagetutor.com/jokebreak/263.html

Follow Him and let Him guide your steps. He will not only guide you but will strengthen you for the journey.