“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep
in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)
It’s a question I’ve been asked many times, by strangers in interviews and my friends in casual conversation. It’s also a question I’ve been asking myself rather often these days.
It’s a question about balance. Yes, the dreaded “b” word. And it usually goes something like this: “How do you find balance as a woman in ministry?” The answer is far less simple.
I’ve been pondering, praying and listening to the wisdom of mentors to try to come up with an easy answer. You know, a formula. Perhaps I could discover the perfect ratio of yes and no responses to opportunities outside the home. Or maybe the quantum balance question is answered by multiplying the ages of your children to how many hours of sleep you require divided by your ideal body weight.
The answer in my case is 1.32.
Meaning…what? I should dedicate one hour and 32 minutes each day to (what?). Or I should eliminate one hour and 32 minutes of (what?) out of my schedule.
See what I mean? I have woefully decided that there is no formula. A seasoned communicator recently told me that she simply listens to God — He tells her how often, when and where to speak, and what and when to write.
I am such a radical type A that I really need a little more structure from the Lord. Something I can measure my schedule and motives against. You know, a goal. I am convinced that if I aim at nothing, I will succeed all too well at hitting exactly that. And so my pursuit brought me through the pages of Scripture and landed me at — would you believe it? — a formula.
Or is it a goal?
Whatever it is, it is found in Micah 6:8. God says (in so many words), “Here’s a way to live. It’s good. It’s healthy. It makes sense, and it’s what I want for you.” He even broke it up into three parts! So for all us type A’s who don’t function well in the abstract, God made it perfectly concrete.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
(Micah 6:8, NKJV)
To be balanced, we need to do justly.
That means we implement fairness and rightness toward our family and ourselves as we fill in our empty counter slots. Doing justly, we can say no sometimes in order to be fair to ourselves, our family and our God. But notice the do in “do justly.” Rather than pulling back and shrinking away from all demands, we utilize our limited time and resources in the most equitable way possible.
To be balanced, we must also love mercy.
This pulls our heart into the equation. Mercy mandates forgiveness and forbearance. We love mercy when we lose our stern rigidity and celebrate the fact that none of us have received what our sins really deserve. Loving mercy helps us to refuse to obsess over a perfect house, and helps us to be flexible with our time, and it allows us to shift our priorities in order to meet needs.
To be balanced, we are to walk humbly with our God.
This is the best part of balance, because we put ourselves in a position to intimately journey with God. Instead of trying to run ahead of Him with our agenda and commitments, we simply walk with Him, in His shadow, savoring His nearness.
Do I, Jennifer, get out of balance?
Oh yes, sometimes lurching this way and that like a washing machine with a wildly imbalanced load. But most of the time, I can tell you precisely why I am out of balance. It’s that nasty, five-letter word — pride.
Oh, I don’t mean that I become all inflated and impressed with myself. (Though I know I’m capable of that, too.) No, I simply mean I am operating with the kind of pride that has little time for God and His ways because I am busy, spinning around in my routine. That may not look arrogant to the outsider, but it is not a picture of walking humbly.
Notice that the verse does not say running humbly or spinning humbly. It is simply a walk. When we keep God’s pace, all will be balanced.
This Week
Ask the Lord to show you where your walk with Him is unhealthy and imbalanced then ask Him to help you keep His pace in your life.
Prayer
“Lord, I know I my life can get imbalanced. Show me what it means to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with You.”
Jennifer is the author of Fresh Grounded Faith: Devotions to Awaken Your Spirit
, from which today’s devotional is taken.
