What would your life look like if you were living in balance? Would you spend more time outdoors?Would your pace be slower?Would you live less frantically and more purposefully?Would you have more time to rest and enjoy relationships with God, family, and friends?Would you take better care of your health?
Is living a balanced life idealistic, even impossible in today's world?
Living in balance trains you and me to set boundaries around our work: whether work for pay, or works of service and ministry; and encourages us to enjoy the balancing act of the 4- R's: 1) Rest (relaxation, sleep, breathing room) 2) Regeneration (restores youthfulness, hopes and dreams) 3) Recreation (that which truly refreshes us) and..... 4) Relationships (healthy, two-way, nurturing relationships- with God, Family and Friends)
Balanced Living does not mean you and I will live lives of ease and contemplation. Balanced living does require you and me to expand our definition of industry and work- beyond that of paid labor- and recognize the value of ALL the "work of our hands". That is, we acknowledge and make time NOT ONLY for the work we get paid for; YET also for the work we do in our homes, the work of raising our children, the nourishment of our relationships with family and friends, the work of continued education and training, volunteer work, works of service and ministry, and the work required to take care of our bodies.
Balanced living takes time for that which is truly important in the season we are in. When we embrace "Balanced Living" we recognize there is more to "work" than the job for which we receive a salary.
It "IS" a myth to believe that balanced living means we will live lives of ease and contemplation. You and I each have work to do on this earth. "Foolish people refuse to work and almost starve. They feel it is better to be lazy and barely survive than to work hard..." Ecclesiastes 4:5 (NLT)
Nevertheless... King Solomon, author of Ecclesiastes, and one of the wisest and wealthiest men who ever lived, must have known and understood our propensity to get out of balance in regards to work. He encourages balance:
"So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people to do in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them." Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NLT)
It "IS NOT" a myth for you and I to believe that God is our Shepherd. That's why King David in Psalm 23 encourages and reminds us that we have a Shepherd who helps us return to balance. He encourages us to find times of quietness in our days. He desires that we stop and catch our breath; and then-sends us in the right direction. 2009 by Libba Narron Lewey
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