Day 39: Balancing Your Life

A few months ago, I would have been none too happy to be getting home after 9 PM, and only having had an hour and a half at home between school and other activities.

Tonight, I couldn't be more excited about what I did with the past few hours of my life.

Time is such a precious, precious thing. I've been thinking a lot about what I spend my time doing, and realizing that "sacrificing" time that I would end up spending doing something unproductive or, worse, wrong, to go do something worthwhile isn't really much of a sacrifice, especially not on the eternal scale.

Also, when I go up to MI this summer, I don't know how long I'm going to stay. . . it's gone from a month to three weeks to two weeks, and now I'm considering a little over a week. . . I need to pray about it (and ultimately talk it over with my parents; I would love for them to come down and spend time with me here in FL, see the people I've met here at SBC, so that way I wouldn't have to have a prolonged stay in MI, and they could drive down and I could transport more stuff down here. . . everybody wins!). On the one side, God is doing some amazing things for me down here, and I don't want to miss out on anything, but on the other side, there are plenty of people up in the mitten that would love to hear my stories, and maybe some opportunities for God to plant some seeds could occur (and therefore a bigger window of time means more opportunities). . . I just don't know. Pray for me that I might be open-minded and make the decision that follows God's will.

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This is a neat idea: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission sum up the purposes of our lives (that is, worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship). This chapter talks about four different ways we can balance those things.

First, we can talk it through with a partner/small group. Talking with others always provides varied real-life examples that we do not experience ourselves. That's one really neat thing about my Sunday School class; we are all young professionals with very different personalities, backgrounds, and jobs, and we often end up with some very thought-provoking discussions. We are all aware of the hand of God in each of our lives, and sharing the things that He does for us and through us is an encouragement in itself. I take just as much life application from SS as I do from morning and evening services, and you've read what I take in from Pastor Dan, so that says a lot about both him and the SS crew, but mostly glorifies the fact that He knows how to effectively use those servants that have opened their minds to Him. And I'm so thankful God brought me to be a part of such a group of people.

Second, we should do a regular spiritual self check-up. We don't see progress if we don't bother measuring it, and we don't know what needs to be fixed if we never look at what's going on. I don't remember when and what message it came from (probably a Nehemiah message) but sometimes it's easy to just get a little off track. However, over time, that slight change in direction suddenly takes us quite far from the place we were aiming for orignally. Regularly reviewing where we're at and where we are going (and HOW we are getting there) will help us avoid that situation. Plus, if we see progress, that's always encouraging, and if we don't, we know where we need to challenge ourselves. I plan on doing this once I've finished with the book (and with the long weekend, I can take a lot of time and reflect on everything thoroughly).

Third, we can write down our progress in a journal. I thought about it, and that's basically what you're reading. I don't reveal everything in here, but I've only just begun using it, and really going back and reading entries remind me of things that have happened and serve as reference points to things I have learned. I just have to balance complete honesty with appropriate content (I don't really know that there is anything going on in my life that is particularly inappropriate though, so I don't know exactly what I mean about that). But, as the book says, sometimes writing helps us clarify thoughts. For me, I feel like I ramble, but at least I get my thoughts out. Later I can read them and go, "Oh, that's what I meant. Why didn't I say it that way and save myself 50 words?"

The last thing is to pass our knowledge to others. This blog serves that purpose to an extent, but I can't pretend that if I just continue doing this, I'll be sharing effectively with all the people in my life. I am enjoying it, and even if people aren't reading it now, it's something that I can point out when the opportunity arises. And again, how can we NOT want to share Jesus with EVERYONE? Sometimes (usually after choir rehearsal, like tonight), I just want to stop random people and tell them about how desperately they need Jesus in their lives. I don't do it because a) it would probably not be effective, b) that is WAY outside my personality and comfort zone, and c) I'm driving in my car on the way home. But I feel so empowered! And I guess it's not that I don't or can't feel that way after other things, but for me, music is such a poignant and deeply emotional thing that I have a lot of residual energy afterwards. Either way, evangelizing is something I've been thinking about too.

In the end, our lives should be about us being about God's work. For if we open our minds and lives to Him, then He will do great things through us.

Point to Ponder: Blessed are the balanced.
As long as they aren't balancing upside down pyramids. . . but I don't feel like that. In fact, for some parts of my life, I have mental clarity I thought I would never obtain. . . let's work on getting that to 100%.

Verse to Remember: Ephesians 5:15 - "Live life with a due sense of responsibility, not as those who do not know the meaning of life but as those who do." J. B. Phillips Modern Translation of the New Testament (or something like that)
WE KNOW. Knowledge truly is power; the power to impact the world for Christ! What else could we want to do with such valuable information?

Question to Consider: Which of the four activities will I begin in order to stay on track and balance God's give purposes for my life?
As I already said, in the next few days I'm going to do a personal spiritual check-up. Hopefully this becomes something I do regularly, but how often is the question. . . once a month? Once a quarter? Once a year? Or maybe just when I think I need to make sure I'm on track. . . we'll see.