Balance
Lisa
Heath / Next Gen Ministry Assistant
It appears to defy all odds when the gymnasts fly onto a balance beam and do so many tricks. Picture a gymnast: she is mounting onto the balance beam with big flair. She lands with exact precision on a line that is only four inches wide. She proceeds to do cartwheels, in-the-air summer saults, splits in the air, and back flips. With one last flourish to dismount, the hopeful medalist does one more gravity defying trick: flipping back to the ground. The perfect routine ends with the gymnast not falling or missing a single step on the beam.
But we all must agree, that even the most practiced athlete can misstep or slip from the routine. As I am someone that can’t keep still, always wanting to move, I often think of what Paul wrote: Hebrews 12:1b, 2a “…let us run with endurance the race that is marked out before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus.” I also love these verses that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (VOICE) “We all know that when there’s a race, all the runners bolt for the finish line, but only one will take the prize. When you run, run for the prize! Athletes in training are very strict with themselves, exercising self-control over desires, and for what? For a wreath that soon withers or is crushed or simply forgotten. That is not our race. We run for the crown that we will wear for eternity. So I don’t run aimlessly. I don’t let my eyes drift off the finish line. When I box, I don’t throw punches in the air.” We so often compete for balance, time, and “fill in the blank” of whatever makes us struggle for balance. We forget that it is for eternity that we truly live.
For the past five or six years, I’ve picked a “word” for the year (something I want to learn for the next 12 months). As this new year approaches, I pick balance. It is so easy to try to do too much or even too little. As I keep remembering what God inspired Paul to write, I pray that it helps me to learn, God’s way, balance in each day. I know I often see all the chaos and good in the world and get a Savior Complex. I think I have to save everyone and change the world all by myself. BUT, that is what Jesus has accomplished. He is LORD OF LORDS, SAVIOR, AND REDEEMER.
With God as my coach, I can get a perfect balance beam score. In time, God’s time, we win the race we are running.