## Maintaining Balance

## Psalm 127:2

(PSALMS 127:2) IT IS VAIN FOR YOU TO RISE UP EARLY, TO SIT UP LATE, TO EAT THE BREAD OF SORROWS: FOR SO HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP.

Complete these sentences:

- I'm at the end of my . . . rope.
- I'm coming . . . unglued.
- I'm at my wit's . . . end.
- I'm really stressed . . . out.
- I'm ready to throw in the . . . towel.
- My life is out of . . . control.

We all know and often use these phrases to describe our lives. This is how we feel when life gets out of balance. But God never intended for our lives to be this way. He said it was vain or pointless to live life like this. So what is the alternative? Learning to maintain balance in our lives.

For our study we will use the word Balance as an acrostic. Each of the letters will begin the main points of our study.

I. Build my life around Christ.

A. Perhaps we would think that this should be a given, but the truth of the matter is that many Christians, do NOT build their lives around Christ.

1. The only totally balanced person whoever lived was Jesus.

2. So if we will put Him at the center of our lives He will teach us how to be balanced.

B. How do you know what your life is centered around?

1. What do we think about the most?

2. What do we spend most of our time on?

3. What do we devote our resources toward?

4. We can say what we want, but the truth is that our lives reveal what they are centered upon.

(MATTHEW 6:33) BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.

C. Our lives can be out of balance even when good things are in the center.

1. Many folks put family there…and family is important! But it shouldn't be the center.

2. Others may put vocation or profession…and that too is important, it just shouldn't be the center.

3. It might even be our ministry! But God tells us that something more important needs to be our life's center.

(MATTHEW 22:37) JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND.

II. Accept my humanity.

A. What does that mean?

1. It means I stop trying to pretend that I'm God.

2. I stop trying to pretend that I have all the answers, that I can solve everybody's problem, that I can meet every need and that I can fulfill everyone's expectation.

3. I have to recognize that I have limitations.

4. I'm a human being. I'm not superman.

(ECCLESIASTES 10:15) THE LABOUR OF THE FOOLISH WEARIETH EVERY ONE OF THEM, BECAUSE HE KNOWETH NOT HOW TO GO TO THE CITY.

5. Solomon says it's dumb to wear yourself out with work.

6. God will take care of things.

7. Workaholics are just folks whose lives are out of balance!

B. Jars of clay not just a catchy name for a Christian rock band.

(2 CORINTHIANS 4:7) BUT WE HAVE THIS TREASURE IN EARTHEN VESSELS, THAT THE EXCELLENCY OF THE POWER MAY BE OF GOD, AND NOT OF US.

1. Paul reminds us that God decided to place the treasure [indwelling Spirit of God] inside of us.

2. We are 'earthen vessels' or jars of clay.

3. God could have sent the Spirit of God to dwell in some majestic temple on this earth, but He chose instead to have Him dwell within us!

4. I used to help my mom with a chore every fall and again every spring.

a. She had many flowers in clay pots.

b. In the spring I would carry them outside.

c. Then in the fall I would carry them back inside the house.

d. If I wasn't careful I would shatter the flower pots…they were made of clay.

e. Functional, but fragile.

f. That is the way we are as well.

5. If we are to maintain balance in our lives, we must realize that we are human.

6. We must depend upon His power and His strength and not our own.

(PSALMS 119:73) THY HANDS HAVE MADE ME AND FASHIONED ME: GIVE ME UNDERSTANDING, THAT I MAY LEARN THY COMMANDMENTS.

III. Limit my Labor

A. God's plan for man.

(EXODUS 20:9-10) SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOUR, AND DO ALL THY WORK: BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD: IN IT THOU SHALT NOT DO ANY WORK, THOU, NOR THY SON, NOR THY DAUGHTER, THY MANSERVANT, NOR THY MAIDSERVANT, NOR THY CATTLE, NOR THY STRANGER THAT IS WITHIN THY GATES:

1. This isn't Dr. Phil or Oprah spouting off some suggestions here.

2. This is the Word of God revealing to us the plan of God.

3. He made us and He knows what we need!

4. We need rest.

B. This principle is called the Sabbath.

1. Sabbath simply means "A day of rest."

2. God expects us to observe a sabbath every seven days.

3. Why?

(MARK 2:27) AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, THE SABBATH WAS MADE FOR MAN, AND NOT MAN FOR THE SABBATH:

4. What are we to do on our Sabbath? Catch up on all the things you didn't do the other six days?

5. No. We need a Sabbath to:

a. Rest our body physically

b. Recharge emotionally

c. Refocus spiritually

IV. Adjust my values

A. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

Energy spontaneously tends to flow only from being concentrated in one place to becoming diffused or dispersed and spread out.

1. Illustrated by everything in nature.

2. The energizer bunny is a myth…I have thrown away tons of energizer batteries.

3. They don't keep going and going!

4. Neither do we; we tend to slow down, physically and spiritually.

5. So we need to constantly correct our course.

B. If we don't make adjustments, we start majoring on the minors.

1. Keeping up with the proverbial Jones'

2. Focusing on materialism will cause our lives to become out of balance.

(ECCLESIASTES 4:4) AGAIN, I CONSIDERED ALL TRAVAIL, AND EVERY RIGHT WORK, THAT FOR THIS A MAN IS ENVIED OF HIS NEIGHBOUR. THIS IS ALSO VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT.

(MARK 8:36) FOR WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN, IF HE SHALL GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND LOSE HIS OWN SOUL?

3. We can easily become possessed by our possessions.

4. But there is a better way! The greatest things in life aren't things.

(ECCLESIASTES 4:6) BETTER IS AN HANDFUL WITH QUIETNESS, THAN BOTH THE HANDS FULL WITH TRAVAIL AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT.

V. Nourish my inner life

A. On fire for God.

1. Here is a phrase that we often use.

2. It speaks of our passion for the things of the Lord.

3. For 17 years we would heat our home with a wood fire.

4. It was wonderful, but it took a great deal of work.

5. Not just loading, unloading, stacking, and carrying the wood…we had to constantly monitor the fire and make adjustments to the damper to keep the fire burning.

6. The same is true with our passion for the things of God.

7. We have to monitor, and tend to it to keep it burning or else we will grow cold.

(SONG OF SOLOMON 1:6B) "…THEY MADE ME THE KEEPER OF THE VINEYARDS; BUT MINE OWN VINEYARD HAVE I NOT KEPT. "

B. How do we nourish our inner life?

1. Much the same way we nourish our outer or physical life.

2. We must have proper food and exercise.

3. We must monitor the fire.

4. Note the Scripture:

(PSALMS 119:16) I WILL DELIGHT MYSELF IN THY STATUTES: I WILL NOT FORGET THY WORD.

5. Even Jesus took time to monitor His inner life.

(LUKE 5:16) AND HE WITHDREW HIMSELF INTO THE WILDERNESS, AND PRAYED.

6. If we find the fire in our life has grown cold, we are out of balance.

7. We have to reconnect with Him, and take time to feed our spiritual lives with the bread of life.

VI. Commit our daily schedule to God.

A. Pastor, how do you find the time?

1. Often folks will ask that question of me, but I have just enough time to do God's will.

2. I use a 'to do' list, but God usually changes my schedule.

3. Pastor, can we talk?

4. Sometimes it is an unexpected hospital call, or worse…it might be a death.

5. Other times it may be an equipment malfunction.

6. The 'what' really isn't that important, we cannot totally control our schedules.

7. So give your schedule to God; realize that He is in control.

(PSALMS 31:15) MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND: DELIVER ME FROM THE HAND OF MINE ENEMIES, AND FROM THEM THAT PERSECUTE ME.

B. Sitting in a bathtub with 100 ping pong balls floating on the surface.

1. Try to keep them all under the water.

2. Push a couple down and more pop up.

3. That is a great example of the frustration of an unbalanced life.

4. But understand that God knows what we are supposed to be doing on any given day.

5. We can make a list... but commit it to God.

(ECCLESIASTES 3:1) TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER THE HEAVEN:

VII. Enjoy the moment

A. God intends for us to enjoy the life that He has given us.

(ECCLESIASTES 3:13) AND ALSO THAT EVERY MAN SHOULD EAT AND DRINK, AND ENJOY THE GOOD OF ALL HIS LABOUR, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.

1. Life and all that it entails is a gift from God.

2. We do not live in the past nor do we live in the future…we live in the moment.

3. Right now…this is life.

4. I have been thinking about retirement, but I can't really get things settled in my mind.

5. There are so many variables…will my health allow me to do this or that?

6. Will I be able to afford to do what I want to do?

7. Maybe Jesus will come back before I reach that magic age…what a waste of time.

B. If we aren't careful, we can become out of balance, and miss the blessings of the here and now.

1. Of course we should plan for the future, God tells us to do that.

2. But that is planning…

3. That is like making my list of things to do.

4. That isn't living! Living is right now!

(JOHN 10:10B) "… I AM COME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, AND THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY."

5. If we allow ourselves to become focused on anything other than life right now…we run the risk of becoming out of balance.

6. As a result, we can miss out on the joy that God intends for us to have in this life.

(PROVERBS 14:30) A SOUND HEART IS THE LIFE OF THE FLESH: BUT ENVY THE ROTTENNESS OF THE BONES.

A sound heart = one that is balanced; it is one that is centered upon Jesus Christ. As a believer we can take Christ out of the hub. We can put a multitude of other things in His place, but when we do we have missed it. Building our lives on values that lasts, means we must concentrate on maintaining balance in our lives.