balance

I found it ironic that today's assignment for Picture Winter was to find something that exemplified balance. Balance is something that I have fought to achieve for so many years. Actually, I believe most people struggle with this issue. We have a multitude of things pulling for our attention on a daily basis...a lot of really good things. That's what makes our daily decisions so difficult sometimes. It's not a choice between good and bad, but a choice between good and best. What's the best use of my time? What are the best relationships to nurture? If my goal as a Christian is to love God and love people, how do I do that practically? What does that look like? Who comes first?

As a believer, I know that God must come first. He tells me that if I seek Him, I will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). And oh, how I need to find Him! He's the only one that can give me clear direction for my life. But many days it's a struggle just to get to that place. If we only had a pause button to push when the world starts spinning out of control!

Every generation has faced challenges in their devotion to God, and ours is no exception. We are virtually connected to our world in a multitude of ways. Television, cell phones, texting, blogging, email, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc., claim hour upon hour of our time. Time stealers. None of these things are inherently bad, and I'd be the first one to say I've enjoyed many of them. But after awhile, they numb you to hearing God's voice. Sometimes it's good to just take a break and disengage from technology. To reset your internal clock. To just breathe and "be" a human be-ing instead of a human do-ing. To invest more time in people instead of things, to turn our heart towards God and just listen. He has amazing things to speak to our hearts if we'd just be still, and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).

One of the best ways I've found to bring balance into my life is to enter into a time of fasting. My church is joining others all across the world in a 21 day fast. For the next 21 days we are choosing to set aside those things that have drawn our hearts away from God and reconnect to each other. We're putting first things first. We're believing for miracles. We're praying audacious prayers. Some of us are fasting various types of food, and some are fasting technology. Many of us are combining the two. We're not fasting to get God's attention...we're fasting to get the world's grip off our hearts. It's not a time of mourning over what we're giving up, but a hopeful expectation of hearing God's voice, and getting His direction for the year. It's a time to increase our faith. Faith comes from hearing the rhema (revealed) word of God..not from having heard (Romans 10:17). It is an active listening for His voice. I'm looking forward to this time of renewal, and can't wait to see what God says to my heart in the coming days.

Here's to a New Year that is balanced and full of blessings in every way!