A Balanced Life (5-17-2020)

“Who else but God? Living a Balanced Life” Devotional for 5-17-20 Beginning Scripture: Proverbs 30:4 “ Who else but God goes back and forth to heaven? Who else holds the wind in his fists and wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who but God has created the world? If there is any other, what is his name— and his Son’s name—if you know it? (The Living Bible) The Holy Spirit moves here Proverbs speaks of a God who holds the wind in his fists and wraps the oceans in his cloak. This is the stuff of an artist’s palate. In my mind’s eye I can picture a painting of God holding the wind in his fist. This gorgeous poetic passage makes it easy to see that the Bible is the inspired word of God. I consider myself an amateur poet, but I would not have thought of the image described in this verse. There’s no way I could paint it, but I can imagine Michelangelo’s brush in motion painting God grasping the wind. When I read a beautiful poetic line or phrase it makes me think the Holy Spirit is in the air – even if it is written by a secular poet. For example, I imagine the Holy Spirit was present when William Blake wrote this: “To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.” ― William Blake, Auguries of Innocence I also imagine the Holy Spirit is present when Sister Sandy sits down at the organ and plays hymn after hymn from memory. If I could watch her fingers on the keys I think I could see the movement of God in them. I experience the Spirit of God moving in our people so often here at 1st Free Will Baptist. Poverty and Riches Have you ever fantasized about winning the lottery? I have. At first I smile, thinking about what I would buy and the good causes I would portion some of the money out to. But then I think of our relatives and friends who would come knocking or calling and me trying with some difficulty to decide who to give money to and who to turn down. I think about how I would probably have to change my phone number and move away from our wonderful home and our trees and the flowers we’ve planted and watered – just to avoid all the people who would want a piece of our good fortune. It doesn’t take long for me to start feeling regret for winning the lottery. And all of this is in my imagination, of course. Listen to what Proverbs 30: 8 and 9 say: “… give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the Lord?” Life in Extremes: Staying True to God The Sunday School lesson points out the importance of a proper balance in our lives rather than pursuing dangerous extremes. I have heard my recovering alcoholic friend say that when he was deep in his disease, he lived much of his life in extremes. If one drink is good then three would be better and if three were better then lots more would be best. I think the main point this Proverb is making is this: If we want to keep proper balance in our affairs we need to keep the Lord as our focal point. Verses 8 and 9 that I quoted seem to be saying: too much or too little of the things we like and love can be harmful or even dangerous. Poverty – not having enough money to acquire the things you need is an extreme in which our mental abilities can become distorted and God no longer matters. The only thing that tends to matter is getting enough – unless Jesus is in our lives. Too much wealth or too little can make it difficult to stay true to God. The way that I can stay in relationship with God is to have Jesus in my life, to talk to him and to listen to him. Jesus and I talk to each other through prayer and meditation of course, but one of the main ways Jesus talks to me is in the gospels and the rest of the Bible. How do I know what is true in a world full of lies and misinformation? The answer is through the Word made flesh and the Word of Scripture. And we are fortunate and truly blessed if we had parents who taught us Christian principles, who modeled Jesus for us in their actions and words. To recognize these blessings, we pause in our culture to honor parents, because they are the ones who give us our grounding and set us on the right course. It occurs to me that Mother’s and Father’s day are hardly enough to give honor, love and respect to our parents. With regard to being too rich or too poor, this chapter in Proverbs has great wisdom for someone like me whose mind can take me into a scene from King Solomon’s Mines, a movie I saw as a child. I still remember the cave where huge piles and treasure chests full of gold coins and precious jewels were scattered all over the place. I still see the rubies and emeralds and diamonds sparkling in the torch light. This chapter in Proverbs is valuable wisdom for people with rich imaginations that can take them far away from God into places of fun and pleasure as well as darkness. The past several weeks we’ve been in a dark period throughout the world. I don’t know, but maybe someday this will be referred to as the second dark ages. I hope not. However, I am reminded of something I heard from one of my great spiritual teachers. He said that most of our spiritual growth takes place during times of suffering and sorrow. On the contrary, when we are feeling great and are immersed in exciting wonderful activities or things, there is usually not a whole lot of thought about how to get closer to God. This tendency doesn’t make us bad people, but it does seem to be an aspect of our fallen human nature. Never Enough! I am amazed by super wealthy persons who never want to stop accumulating more and more. Greed seems to be an insidious and truly evil thing. The writer of Proverbs 30 compares this type of person to a leech that has two daughter leeches who continually cry out for the parent leech to give, give, give! I once had a person who I thought was a friend who seemed to be constantly in need. “Can you spare $10 today” she’d ask and a week later, she had to have $30 and there was nowhere else she could get it but at my phone number. Unfortunately she was a woman who said she was a Christian and regularly spoke pious phrases. It is possible that she had good intentions, but after years of giving and giving, finally I decided I was not helping her by supporting and enabling her leeching behavior. She had a credible story about the causes of her predicament and for a long time I allowed my own guilty feelings and gullible self to fall for that story. I wish I had come across Proverbs 30:15 during that period. It might have given me the wisdom I needed then. But lest I think myself superior to this individual, I need to examine myself to discover if there is anything I crave so much I can never get enough. Balance, balance, balance This chapter in Proverbs speaks a lot about the need for balance and there seems to be no end to the voices out there advising a balanced diet, fitness program, and on and on. Some of the advice is even contradictory, but in spite of great amount of varying degrees of accurate information in media and print, it is true that Proverbs 30 tells us how important balance is. One source I read says that consistency is what is important no matter which exercise or diet regimen one adopts. I think it is also helpful to have someone in your life who is practical and has good common sense to help you decide on a good balance. Here are some more good suggestions I found for living a balanced lifestyle: 1. Get plenty of rest, exercise and healthy food. Take time to enjoy activities and unwind by reading or meditating. 2. Be organized. It can help reduce stress and improve the balance in your life. 3. Set goals – achieving goals can help with a positive mindset. 4. Eat right – Your body needs healthy foods and nutrients to create new cells, clean toxins, and function properly. Scripture and a Balanced Life: Here are some scriptural passages that encourage balance in our lives: One of the all time favorites, of course is, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Here are some excerpts: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Questions and Challenges 1. Give three examples of how the Holy Spirit has moved in your creativity, your relationships, and in your prayer and meditation. 2. Examining your past, what are some instances in which you have allowed yourself to be so distracted by the pursuit of your goals you lost your focus on God? 3. In what ways do you keep balance in your life? Prayer Holy Spirit, please enter our lives by inspiring us and leading us toward creative ways of maintaining balance in our lives. Jesus, give us the strength to carry through with our healthy goals for a balanced life and alert us to ways that we are too extreme in one or more of our activities, thoughts, and attitudes. Thank you Father for all of the good people and things you put into our lives. We praise you for your creation and for protecting us from harm. In the name of our precious Savior Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.