We live in busy times! I meet a lot of Christians who aren’t getting enough rest and who are overwhelmed by the busyness of life. Sadly, they’re wearing themselves out.
That’s not God’s will for our lives!
Is it possible to find a balance so we’re not stressed and tired all the time? I think it is! Here are four ideas—both spiritual and practical—for living a balanced life.
- Stay full.
Proverbs 18:14 says when your spirit is strong, it will sustain you. That means staying filled up with the Word of God. That’s what balances your life.
Don’t wait for trouble to come before you start reading your Bible;read it every day! Read it until its promises seem more real than anything happening around you. Be cause after all, the troubles are subject to change—God’s Word is eternal.
Only you can feed your spirit on the Word of God and keep it strong. Matthew 6:33 says when you seek God (and His way of doing things) first, everything you need will be added to you.
That means staying full of the Word—every day. Develop a daily Bible-reading habit, and you’ll soon find that your spirit stays strong, which will lead to a balanced life.
- Get your sleep.
Psalm 127:2 says, “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, and to eat the bread of hard toil, for He gives sleep to His beloved.” Getting enough sleep can make all the difference in your life.
In the Gospels, we often see Jesus resting, separating Himself from the crowd to refill. He knew it was important. Life can quickly get out of balance if you don’t get enough sleep.
Norvel Hayes often helped people get out of depression and/or negativity just by getting them to take a break and rest. He said, “Tired people lean toward problems; rested people lean toward answers.”
You might think you don’t have time to sleep, but if you don’t learn to balance this, you’ll spend the time later by being sick or making wrong choices. Learn to balance rest times now or pay later.
- Discipline your flesh.
In 1 Corinthians 9:27 (NLT), the apostle Paul says, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”
Paul is telling us to not let our flesh do everything it wants to do. Your flesh wants to watch TV until late, eat everything it wants, say whatever it wants, spend whatever it wants—and never read the Word.
These are things under our control, not God’s. When you discipline your flesh, it helps bring balance to your life. When we give the flesh an inch, it’ll take a mile. We can learn to tell it no..
Think about this: the word “disciple” means “disciplined one.”
- Lighten your load.
Too many of us are carrying cares and worries that we have no business carrying. It throws our life out of balance. First Peter 5:7 says we’re to cast our cares on the Lord, because He cares for us.
Cast your cares on God and let Him take care of those things. Living life in your own strength is too hard—give it up. Mark 4:19 says worrying about the cares of this world will choke the Word out of your life. So stop it! {eoa}
Karen Jensen Salisbury has been in ministry over 30 years. Formerly a lead pastor, then an instructor at Rhema Bible College, she is currently an itinerant minister and author of several books. Connect with her on her website, karenjensen.org, on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
This article originally appeared at karenjensen.org.
