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Print By Leann Guzman “Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. Everything else is sin.” -Rob Bell, Mars Hill It seems everyone lately has been asking the same question—how do I successfully balance everything in my life? The question is tough; the solution isn’t universal because each person has his or her unique life filled with its distinct activities and obstacles. Our popular July blogger, Lee Ann Alexander, asked on one of her last posts of the month, “I still want to know how we balance the busy-ness of life's business.” My friend (who shall remain nameless) bemoaned on his blog that he felt he couldn’t properly focus on the ministry God wants him to fulfill because of all the other church activities he has to attend that aren’t his calling. “Sometimes I feel that there is too much other stuff in the way of what God wants me to become,” he wrote. He wasn’t talking about his job, his family, or anything worldly. He meant other church stuff. As a working mother, I’ve had to deal with this issue in my own life. How do I balance my walk with God, my marriage, my child, my family, my home, my church, my ministries, my work, and still try to have any time to do something I enjoy just for me? Balancing Priorities, Prioritizing
Balance First, you must organize your priorities. Many times there will be different priorities competing for the same time slot. You have to know what’s most important to you so you know how to choose what will fill the slot. When you organize your priorities, put your calling at the top of the list. Some of you are shouting, wailing, or whining at the computer, “But I don’t know what that is!” Your calling can be any number of things, such as teaching, preaching, working with the youth, being a stay-at-home wife and mother, being a witness on your job, or doing your best at wherever God has you at this moment. Rob Bell’s quote (above) is jolting and convicting (though I disagree with the second sentence). You must relentlessly pursue what God has called you to do in order to fulfill the purpose He has for you. In this day, if we don’t relentlessly pursue the purpose, it will get quickly covered up with other responsibilities and we will never reach the potential God has for us. You must start with your calling as your bull’s-eye, the thing that is in the center of your life and that is most important, and then carefully work out from there, only adding things that won’t take too much time from your calling. While God may have called me to lead a small group at my church, He has also made me first and foremost to be a good wife and mother. This doesn’t mean that because being a mother and wife is my first calling that anything else I do is sin. But it does mean that I carefully guard what else takes up my time. My husband and I prayerfully consider any new activity that will take away from my time with my husband and daughter. I’ve had to pass on so many activities I would have otherwise jumped at the chance to do, including church activities and church trips, in order to relentlessly pursue being the best mother and wife I can be. The important priority to remember is that God gives you the strength to do what He has called you to do. If you find yourself without enough strength to deal with everything you have on your plate, then make sure that you only have on your plate what God has placed there. Have you put anything extra there that doesn’t belong? Climbing the Mountain The man continued up the mountain, and, along the way, he came across his friend. His friend, who also had rocks, said, “Man, I know you already have all those rocks, but do you think you could take these up the mountain for me, since you’re already going? I’ve got so much to do; I just can’t make it today.” The man hesitated, but, since it was his friend, he went ahead and took the rocks. By now, he could hardly hold the rocks in his arms, and the load was almost too heavy. As the man continued, he felt he couldn’t make it much further. He asked God for some help to make it up the mountain. Shortly, he came upon his boss. His boss, who also had rocks, said, “Hey, since you have all those rocks, I can offer you a wheelbarrow to put them in, as long as you agree to take my rocks to the top of the mountain, too.” At this point, the man felt God was answering his prayer, and was so desperate for the wheel-barrow that he agreed. But with his rocks, his brother’s rocks, his friend’s rocks, and his boss’ rocks, the wheelbarrow was too heavy. He cried out to God again for help to make it up the mountain, but no help came. He could only push the load a little further before he could go on no more. He finally plopped down beside the wheel-barrow and cried out to God in despair and anger. “God! Why have you not helped me with this load? It’s too heavy! You’re the one who asked me to take the rocks to the top of the mountain, and now you haven’t answered me when I asked you for help to do what You asked me to do!” God answered him gently, “I asked you to take the rocks I gave you up the mountain and I gave you enough strength to do what I asked. I never asked you to take anyone else’s rocks. You are the one who made your load too heavy.”
ninetyandnine.com
© 2005, Leann Guzman ----- Leann Guzman is ninetyandnine.com’s “Family / Work Issues” columnist. If you have suggestions on topics to explore, email her at Family@ninetyandnine.com.
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