Balance in life is something most adults struggle with on a professional or personal levels.
It gets even more complicated when you add to your life all of the other daily demands such as being a parent (great or grand parent), a spouse, a leader at the Church or in the community, and more.
But, the question of being out of balance doesn’t always have to do with how much you have on your plate. It primarily deals with how you use the different hats in your everyday living, when to wear one and not the other.
And, there’s a ton of writing about balance on the internet right now.
What I attempt to do in the following lines is to offer three biblical principles that can help you, as a Christian, to find balance in a way that’s more relevant to whatever season of life in which you are now.
Let’s use Luke 10:38-42 as our foundation,
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
The story above happened over two thousand years ago. So, a lot about the cultural context today is very different from when this Scripture was written (during the second half of the first century in our Christian Era).
But, the three principles we learn from the story are timeless!
Before delving into that, let’s point out two things about the name of the city, Bethany. First, it means “house of afflictions.”
When you think of “afflictions,” what comes to mind includes: suffering, pain, and disorder. In other words, Bethany, a word stands for “out of order,” or “out of balance.”
The second meaning the word, “Bethany,” is “house of dates.” What comes to mind when we think of dates can include the following: a meeting, uncertainty, lack of clarity, etc.
Yeah, think of dates in real life. People meet for the first time. They can’t trust each other yet because they need more time to know the other party.
In the case of Mary and Martha, Jesus in the house. [bctt tweet=”Whenever Jesus is in the house, there is salvation: God is in the midst!” username=””]
I don’t know about you. But, I feel a lot times that my life sometimes looks like “Bethany.” Things look out of place and I lack clarity for a few things.
When I was reading the above Scripture, it so much spoke to me that I thought of sharing it with you, especially about the three principles I learned from it.
Principle #1: Choose the Thing That No One Will Take Away from You
Jesus, with his disciples, make a stop in Bethany. There are Martha and Mary. These two ladies are Lazarus’ sisters (John 11).
They are excited that Jesus is in their home. But, Martha and Mary responded to Jesus’ presence in their house differently.
Martha wants to offer the best hospitality ever to Jesus. So, she goes to the kitchen to make her most favorite dish for the Christ.
Luke does not tell us if at this point Jesus had already raised Lazarus from the dead yet. But, we can tell that Jesus’ fame had already spread, and caught up on Martha and Marie. They had already loved him, and believed in him as the Christ.
While Martha was in the kitchen, Mary was at the feet of Jesus Christ and listening to what he was saying.
[bctt tweet=”The one thing to do, and which no one or nothing can take away from you is to Be at the feet of Jesus!” username=””]
Principle #2: Sit at The Feet of Jesus Christ
The one thing Jesus asks Martha to choose is what Mary has chosen, based on the text.
Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus instead of being preoccupied with kitchen stuff. She made the choice to be at the right place and in the right position.
Sometimes, we may be in the right place, but not in the right position. Or we may have the right position, but in the wrong place.
That will not help. Will it?
The story in Luke 10 tells us all about it. Even though Jesus is the house, Martha is still experiencing the state of being so overwhelmed, confused, and stressed out.
And that’s because she was not at the right place (where Jesus is) and in the right position (at the feet of Jesus).
Her feeling of things being out of order and balance was because of not being at the feet of Jesus. [bctt tweet=”Being at the feet of Jesus sets us up for balance in life. ” username=””]
Principle #3: Listen to What Jesus Says
As I just said above that being in the right place and in the right position is what we need to find balance.
But, there’s more!
In the text (Luke 10), it is not just about being where Jesus is and sitting at his feet that you have it all. No … You need to choose to listen to what Jesus says.
Ok, I know you immediately think of the Bible, Sunday school, Youth groups, etc., when it comes to listening to Jesus.
That’s not enough either. And, the reason is that we may all have a copy of the Bible. However, the book has information about Jesus.
To listen to what Jesus says goes beyond just being in the right place and position. It requires us to choose to listen to what Jesus specifically says to each one of us, and daily. [bctt tweet=”What Jesus says about and to us brings order and balance in our daily living. ” username=””]
In Conclusion
Sitting at the feet of Jesus is a choice we’ve got to make every day if we want our lives to be in order and balance. Choosing to do so shuts down all the distractions, eliminate all confusion, and thus gives us clarity as well as the ability to clearly listen to what Jesus has to say to and about us on a daily basis.
