|
A balanced life is focused on the right things by Mary Southerland |
|
 Focus is always found at  the feet of Jesus.
Mary Southerland |
It's getting to be that time of year again – when schedules are full, stress is high, and emotions are frazzled: the holidays! As men and women in ministry, we constantly struggle with balance, but it seems like the holidays give a whole new meaning to the word "stress."
When we refuse to balance the sometimes overwhelming demands of ministry, home, family, friends, and personal growth, stress will be the natural result. What we really need is a holy balance only God can bring. The story of Mary and Martha, two women in ministry, offers valuable truths about balance that we can apply to our life and ministry today.
A balanced life is focused on right things. Focus is always found at the feet of Jesus. Mary lived out this truth. In fact, Mary, more than any other person in the New Testament, is associated with sitting at the feet of Jesus.
What does it mean to sit at the feet of Jesus? First we must stop. Now that is a novel idea for men and women in ministry! Mary stopped what she was doing – helping Martha in the kitchen – and came to sit at the feet of Jesus. Of course, Martha immediately began complaining that she had been left to do all the work while her sister wasted time sitting at the feet of Jesus.
Listen, my friend, there will always be someone who will misunderstand or complain when you choose to do what Jesus told Martha was "the better part."
Luke 10: 40-42 says, "But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.'"
Mary made a choice and so must we. Choosing to sit at the feet of Jesus requires decisive planning, purposeful scheduling, and a willful determination. Every day God wants relationship-building time with us, which means time at his feet, in his presence, must be our highest priority. Jesus gently rebuked Martha because she had forgotten what was important.
Choosing where to invest our time
It is amazing to me how I can squander away the best part of my day, leaving God with the leftover scraps of time, and then have the audacity to complain that my life is void of power and purpose. Distractions come from every side. Some of those distractions are good and wonderful things, but they are all still wrong things if they keep us from stopping to spend time with God.
We choose where to invest our time everyday. We plan committee meetings and church activities, but fail to schedule the most important activity of all, spending time with God. Are you desperate for the peace and balance only he can bring? Then it's time to stop, take inventory of the demands upon your time, and begin investing the best part of every day sitting at his feet. Being wrapped up in God's work can easily become a shabby substitute for being wrapped up in his presence, and we can only be wrapped up in God's presence when we learn to wait on him.
I absolutely hate to wait. (You can imagine what discipline it takes for me to endure holiday shopping lines.) Waiting robs me of control and forces me to face the unknown, but waiting on God brings priorities into a right focus and releases the catalyst that may very well change my life course. Waiting is not a passive loss of time. Waiting is active spiritual obedience. In each waiting room of life, God is at work preparing us. Psalm 5:3 (NLT) says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly."
From those still, quiet moments of waiting and seeking comes a balance and focus that takes root and grows. It is through the choice to wait on God that the seeking heart – the expectant heart – finds every need met.
Learning to listen
We not only must stop and be still in order to sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to listen! Time spent seeking God and listening for his voice is vital. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV) says, "Now choose life...listen to his voice, and hold fast to him." Countless voices clamor for our attention. The key to a balanced life is training our hearts toward God and teaching our spiritual ears to listen for his voice above all others.
I taught third grade for several years while my husband attended seminary. My class was one of seven third grade classes, which meant that the first few days of school were chaotic. The physical education teacher was a welcome sight when she appeared at my door to take the students outside. It was the responsibility of each teacher to pick up her students when phy-ed was over. Seven teachers trying to get the attention of over two hundred students was especially interesting on the first or second day of school when the teachers didn't know their students and the third graders didn't know their teacher.
However, after only a few days, an amazing thing happened every year. When the teachers lined up, it took only a word or two for the students to come running. They quickly learned to recognize the voice of their new teacher above all the rest because they listened to her voice all day long.
The voice of God comes to us in many ways but every voice must be held up and measured against his main voice, the Word of God. To sit at the feet of Jesus, we must learn to stop, be still, and listen for his voice. When we have learned and applied the truth of God, we can rest in him and our world falls into perfect balance. Resting in him requires trust.
Truth is always the basis for trust and trust is always the basis for rest. We rarely take time to stop, be still and listen, allowing his truth to soak into our hearts and minds where trust and faith grow strong on a steady diet of truth. As a result, our faith is weak and rest is hard to find. When we learn to sit at the feet of Jesus, we will know him better, trust him more, and find the rest we so desperately crave. Clarity of purpose and a right focus will come. And that, my friend, is the cornerstone in a life of balance. | |||
|
|
| |
| |||
Mary Southerland is the Stress-Buster, helping women manage stresas and experience joy in their daily lives. A former women's ministry director, Mary now serves as a women's ministry motivator, working "in the trenches" with pastors' wives and ministry leaders. Mary also encourages and motivates thousands of women through her