Balance Problems

DAILY BYTE

John Ortberg has the following to say regarding the topic of balance:
“’Balance’ tends to carry with it the notion that we are trying to make our lives more manageable, more convenient, more pleasant. After all, we ultimately decide for ourselves what balance looks like. At a deeper level, the paradigm of balance simply doesn’t capture the sense of compelling urgency worthy of human devotion. It is largely a middle-class pursuit.

The quest for balance lacks the notion that life is to be given to something bigger than ourselves. It lacks the call to sacrifice and self-denial – the wild, risky, costly, adventurous abandon of following Jesus. Ask hungry children in Somalia if they want to help you achieve balance, and you will discover that they were hoping for something more from you. And I believe that, deep down, you are probably hoping for something more from yourself.
So is God. Jesus never said, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and lead a balanced life.’ He said to follow him. He wants us to do what he would do if he were in our place.”

So perhaps the answer to our culture’s incredible busyness is NOT balance. It does need to be made very clear, however, that neither is unbalanced living the answer.
There used to be a saying among hyperactive preachers: “I’d rather flame out than rust out.” The problem with this is that either way, they’re out. Once we’re out, it doesn’t matter much how we got there.

So what is the answer? Is there another angle to all of this, a transcending truth? Well, we are given some key insights into the struggles of balance and imbalance in the story of Mary and Martha (see focus verse). Read through these verses carefully, and jot down any insights you have as we will be wrestling with this Scripture for the rest of this week.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord God, open the eyes of my heart to this passage of Scripture. Help me to see beyond the obvious, and may the grace-filled truths of this story inspire me to follow you more closely. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Luke 10: 38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 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.”