Take Care Of You & Yours

Lately, life for me hasn't been a crystal stair (Langston Hughes) but it's been an arduous road. Life presents us with many distractions and tests. These tests are in our lives to see if we're going to adapt and overcome or be overcame. The principle of balance is trying to keep things in our lives in an even flow without all the yelling and groaning of an Eddie Vedder (Yeah, I used to be a Pearl Jam fan, dudes). Balancing our lives takes work and doesn't come overnight. Last night, I had to take a deep inventory of my life within these past few months. The results I came up with were very unsatisfactory. I realized that I've been too busy trying to be a superman and save the world than taking the proper time out to take care of myself and my family. Now, don't get it twisted, we are given instructions to take care of another, to pray/love our enemies, and to help those in need. But sometimes, you've got to learn to step back and get your own house in order. Recently, I watched Madea's Big Happy Family and we all know Tyler Perry is a straight up clown :). There was a scene after the mother of a family died, Madea stepped up and talked to the family. She called out just about everybody and checked their behavior. After her valiant effort to set order in their lives, her own daughter Cora questioned her behavior. She asked Madea how could she fix someone's family but not fix her own family's problems. Madea quickly went stage left and said not one word. To be quite honest, that's us today. We're so busy trying to fix everybody's problems, be there for everything, and do everything that we neglect our own house. We're willing to clean someone's car, care for someone's  kids, and help someone else get their finances in order but the same things are haywire in our own lives. We're trying to counsel someone else on keeping their marriage alive but our marriages ain't got no romance or fire. Some of us trying to tell others about Jesus but we don't even know Him from the president on the 1 dollar bill! To hide our own failures in our own houses, we're trying to take care of another's house. This makes God shake His head. For all you Bible scholars, atheists, and wise men out there, here's something to make you think. 1st Timothy 3 is a chapter showing the principles of leadership, maturity, and responsibility. Many of us desire to be people of nobility but don't want to meet the qualifications thereof. 1st Timothy 3:4-5 states this:

"One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 

 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)"

When Mr. Paul of Tarsus said this, he didn't just write this for just order in the church; he wanted this principle to apply in each of our daily lives. He says one that rules well his own house... This means our attitude, our relationships, our financial endeavors, our careers, our marriages, and our children. To rule well means we put God first so He can lead us in the right direction. This also means us knowing how to keep our lives balanced through God's wisdom. Then he poses a synopsis of us not balancing our lives by saying if we don't know how to rule our own lives, how can we possibly help in other matters around us? If a pastor ain't in his or her place, how do they expect to lead people to their destiny? If a music director ain't studying music, how is he or she going to lead their band in their performances? If a CEO of a company isn't innovating his company, how will his or her company be successful in the business world? If a parent isn't disciplining his or her child, how will the child have good behavior to lead them to live a successful life? My friends, we need to learn how to take care of ourselves. Sometimes when we find ourselves in dire situations, we need to pull the plug, step back, analyze the problems, and get direction from God on how to fix them. We need to learn how to leave the heat of the night and got into the cool of the day. When things are drying up, we need to find ourselves spending time with God to get an understanding on where we are and how to get back up. The greatest example we have is Jesus Christ; for He Himself how to go to a solitary place, pray, get away from the commotion, and take care of Himself (Mark 1:35). We as Americans push so hard to the point we run on empty and can't make the next mile. We need to learn to take care of ourselves! It's not a sin to take a vacation. It's not wrong for us to tell people no, I can't do it right now. It's okay to back away from people at times so you can get your head together. This is the process of taking care of yourself because if we don't problems are going to kill us in the end. I truly hope you understand what I'm sharing with you because I'm definitely re-learning myself. I hope this helps. Here is the text I came from and please review it for your reading pleasure:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Til next time, dgwo.