Marriage from A to Z

How Do You Balance It ALL?

     Over the past two weeks, I have been asked this question at least 3 times.  Inquiring minds want to know.    I am sure many of us can answer this question because there are so many things in our lives that we are trying to balance.  We have God, marriage, family, work, friends, kid’s activities, church/ministry activity, school, recreation and the list goes on an on.  Since I have been asked this question back to back over the last two weeks, I thought I would write about my response.

     Whenever I think of balancing things,  I visualize the balance scale.  In my mind, I  use to think that balance was giving everything an equal amount of time and attention.  I later learned that this is not possible.  Trying to obtain balance in this way, is enough to drive you crazy. So the question remains, “How do I balance it all?”

     So glad that you asked, there is one verse that helps me to balance it all.  Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  This verse tells us the key to balancing it ALL.  The word that stands out to me is FIRST.  To put this verse into practice requires spending time with God before doing anything else.  When you first get up, make God your #1 Priority.  You can do it before you even get out of bed. It only takes a few minutes.

     Start your day with prayer and reading something from God’s word.  When you pray, ask God to order your steps, burden your heart with what He wants you to accomplish for the day.   Have a pen and paper or your schedule handy because God will speak.  This is a way to acknowledge God.  He said in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path (Proverbs 3:6).  When you acknowledge God first, He will tell you how to spend your time and what decisions to make. He will make you aware of the needs of your spouse, family, etc.   He will put things on your heart that need your attention.  He will give you insight on how to accomplish more than you could ever accomplish on your own. He will make you aware of who you need to reach out to or who you need to spend time with. When God speaks, we need to obey and not delay.  He is very intentional, so we must be intentional about doing what He tells us to when He tells us to do it.

     If you have been trying to do a better job of balancing or accomplishing more, I challenge you to check your time with God.  Is it your first priority?  If not, establish some order in your life and make time with God  the first thing that you do everyday.  I promise you, your life, marriage, relationships, productivity  and whatever you are trying to balance will improve.    Seeking God first is the key to balance.  He will let you know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done, but you must come to Him FIRST!

Until next week  . . .

Carolyn