Time For Balance!

Jesus said to the storm, "Peace, be still." This peace He was referring to was the confusion, the turmoil, the chaos, the imbalance in His proximity. My friends, we've got too much going on at the same time. We've got so many open doors in our lives, madams from a "work" house would say, "wow, I thought we were bad :). " We as Americans have lost the principles of balance and open the doors of confusion to reign in the stead of tranquility. Well, some of you including myself may not like it but it's the truth. We're undisciplined in our thoughts, financial endeavors, spiritual lives, and public relations (family, friends, enemies). We're wondering why our kids are the way they are. It's from us who have the will, wisdom, and strength to set a balanced setting for the next generation. Look at our political representatives all across the nation. They're facing hard times of imbalance from continuing in practices and belief systems not conducive with the changes needed to be made. That's our problem. Getting balanced requires change. The first step to resolving a (scientific) equation is to identify the problem. Us human being have the "natural knack" to believe nothing is wrong with us. Pride. Even our problems are telling us, dude/dudette, you need to learn how to balance yourself. Do we listen? Well, not until we lose everything and find ourselves in a positions where we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. But now we need to ask the Lord to help us get our lives on track. The thing I liked about the disciples in Mark 4:36-40 is that dem jokers panicked at the sign of trouble. While Jesus was chilling in the back of the boat nodding off, they were in a panicked rage. They didn't know what to do with themselves. As they saw their boat sinking from all the water filling it up, they looked back there. Then they said, Lord, don't you care if we perish. Now, those words and attitude riled Him; thereby spoke the storm to make it still. One last thing before this plane lands is that we ourselves need to ask the power of God to intervene in our "imbalanceness." Setting balance in our lives ain't done by might or power, but by His Spirit. His Spirit is the force that opens our eyes to see the chaos in our lives and unctions us to make the decision to ask Him for help. That's where I'm at right now, trying to get my house (spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional areas) in order. We can go but so far until we burn out without a balance. Knowing when to hold up and knowing when to fold up (Kenny Rogers). So, here's little prayer conjured up and praying the Lord hears and responds to it. It's real simple:


"Lord, help me to find balance in life. There's no way I can do this on my own. Open my eyes to see how to manage the different areas of my life especially in hard times. Help me to trust You to get my life on track and balanced. Thank You, In Jesus Name, Amen."

Til next time, dgwo.

Reference Mark 4:35-40

...Before You Burn Out

Rest is something we don't like to use in the American working class society. We feel like we have to be everywhere all the time every time. But one day, this train of thought and habit is going to wear us down in the end. The totality of our lives will directly be affected from all the stuff we put ourselves through, from others' expectations of us, and what we allow to suck us dry in our lives. Man, I know what I'm talking about. Within the past 6 years of my life, I've had points when I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Why? I was doing too much and handled too many responsibilities; mostly the weight of responsibilities in my life. There are millions of Americans suffering from mental breakdowns because they kept going when their gas tank was on E. As I stated in my previous blog, we rely on our selfish ambition, pride, and willpower to overcome the necessities of rest. So when we've burned ourselves out, we are the ones who pay the consequences for our actions. It sucks but that's what happens every time. I'm learning right in the various catch 22's in my life that I've got to take a bubble and chill. Every great man and woman most know their limits. When we've reached our limit, we need to find ourselves resting and getting recharged. Otherwise, we might as well prepare for the burn out. Married couples who need to take time away refuse vacation time with each other and are on the fastest train to divorce court. Business people realize their need for a getaway continue on and find themselves yelling at others at work. Pastors knowing they need to take a short time for a sabbatical to get spiritually renewed continue on and smite the rock as Moses did. College students know they need to take an hour from the books then grab some pizza but continue on to flunk their mid-terms. These different scenarios show the price we pay for continuing on without resting ourselves. Taking time out for yourself, family, friends, and loved ones ain't a sin. Just let others know when and then move on out. Even the Lord Jesus took time to get away to get renewed (Mark 1:35). Even though He had all power to heal, saved, and deliver demons out of people, the effects of His responsibilities probably got to Him. To avoid burning out, He went to a solitary, quiet, peaceful, and relaxing place to pray (talk with God). In our place of rest, we can lay our burdens down and allow the Father to lavish us with the gifts of rest to help us make it through. My friends, when you feel overwhelmed, take a rest. You don't always have to have money to do it. Write in your journal, talk with a close friend, take yourself out to eat, take a walk in your neighborhood park, or drive around town in your ride. God doesn't want us to burn out. He wants us to live peaceful lives pleasing to Him. Understand?
Til Next Time, dgwo

Reference:

Matthew 11:28-30:
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Mark 1:35

Rest...Pt.1

Since the mid-90's, American society continues to move at a fast pace as we speed pass the stop and yield signs. We've got so many plans, places to to go, people to see, and things to accomplish, we No-Doz or AMP it up to keep the pace. A lot of us feel like we need to do this or do that. Maybe to please the people or to save face for others not to see your shortcomings. Some of us who run businesses from financial institutions, churches, or executive positions just keep going and going. Our bodies and minds are saying stop but our selfish ambition and pride is telling us to keep going. So we keep going, and going, and going. Certain signs are sent our way to get us to "sat down" and take a load off. However, the I need to this  thinking process takes us the tangible reason to armor down. But we don't armor down, we keep on the dented armor, dull sword, fatigued body, and dented shield to keep fighting. We continue to run off reserves and willpower but everything in our lives are telling us to shut it down. We are living in a time when broken systems and broken people working these broken systems are sell running. They are running but not efficient not sufficient to help the commonwealth (all of us). I truly believe that if we keep going, we're going to break down completely and never will get fixed. We should look a things as a car. When new cars are purchased, they run real good without any problems. Tires are good, fuel intake is good, engine is good, and the brakes are good. As time goes on, the appearance of wear and tear happens to the car. Our gas mileage isn't what it used to be and the tires need to be changed to help the tires age gracefully. We realize to stop, go to a car station, and pay our 50 bucks for an oil change and tire rotation. As the car is in a stationary position, the car specialists check the fluid levels, the spark plugs, and other specifications of the car. They annotate what is good, what needs to be, and move accordingly. After 20 to 40 minutes of a wait, they tell us the car is ready. We pay the fee, get in the car, and things are back to normal. Of course, we have to do this task every 3,000 to 5,000 miles for any car we have. It's said if we take care of our car, they can last up to 200,000 miles are more. But the only way our cars or anything we have in our possession, we have to learn how to stop and take a rest. When we're going and going, we take less time keep our houses clean, keep the lawn cut, keep the car cleaned, spend time with our families and loved ones, and taking care of ourselves. Most importantly, we don't stop to take time out for God and to hear what is on His heart. Instead of being balanced people, we become busybodies. We're still putting on a show but we know deep down we need to take a break. My Dionn and I have been talking about this for a while now. Sometimes, we get burnt out by the weekly responsibilities we have. It gets to be much and we feel like we're regressing and not progressing. Running with an empty tank is the key to regression but stopping to take a rest is the key to progression. Today, God is calling all us to enter into His program of progression by taking heed to His word, which will lead our souls to rest and be refreshed. Failing to do so will bar us out of this progress (Isaiah 28:12). Well, that's it for today. During this day of celebration, take time to rest, relax, and release the burdens we've been carrying. Let God give your soul sweet rest.
Till next time, dgwo.

Adjustments 101

Most of the time when I talk to one of my best friends Jonathan Edwards, I talk to him about getting my life balanced (in order, organized). I always tell him, "my life long goal is to gain balance in life." To this day, this is probably one of my top three pursuits. I won't lie, this journey seems to get harder with each step I take. So, what is balance? Here is what Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word balance:

balance - the means of power to decide, a state of bodily equilibrium (a condition in which all acting influences are canceled by others, resulting in a stable, balanced, or unchanging system), emotional stability, a harmonious or satisfying arrangement of parts or elements, a force or influence tending to produce equilibrium, the difference in magnitude between opposing forces or influences.

Balance is what we need right now in the emotional, psychological, financial, spiritual, mental, familial, and physical aspects of our lives. We're living in times of chaos and confusion. Many of us (including myself) don't know if we're coming or going. Our personal lives are in disarray but we mask them with our poker face. We know the grace of God abounds more over any sin or mistakes we make in our lives (Romans 5:20). Today, I beg to differ because we can no longer make excuses for why we're not balancing our lives the way we should. Making excuses is along the lines of taking His grace for granted (Galatians 2:21). We don't want to that. Balancing our lives brings so much joy into our lives and in the end makes everything run smoother. So how do we get to the place? First, it takes commitment, dedication, and a willingness to change. This is what adjustment is all about and it starts with the mind. Think about it. Once our minds are made up, we need to look at our priority list. This is what I've learned through my epic failures in just about every area of my life:

1. God

2. yourself 

3. family/relationships

3. organization (church, job, volunteer missions, etc.)

But let me tell you what most of our priority list looks like:

1. money

2. money, people, places, and things

3. ourselves (our ambitions, what we want when we want them)

4. relationships

5. more money

As you can tell, God ain't even on our list, is He? Hmmm... King David speaks of God's priority list and do you want to know who's 1st on it? The answer is _____ (you fill in the blank)

I'll quote the words of David from Psalms 8:4:

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

We are His first priority because He seeks to be everything we need; most important yearning for a close relationship with us. However, we don't have the same intentions but only seek after things that causes confusion in our lives. My friends, we need to wake up and smell the coffee because our lives are jacked up. Just as Psalms 82:5, we are all off course and need to go back to the drawing board. We need to stop with our business and pride to confess we are in trouble. You want to know why just about every aspect of American society is jacked up is from continuing with a chaotic priority list. It's time we make adjustments. We need to begin confessing where we've fallen and learn to put God first (Matthew 6:33). When God is the head and the foundation of our lives, we won't be invincible from the troubles of life. However, He promises us when our lives are built on the Rock (Jesus Christ), no matter what comes, we will stand firm (Matthew 7:24-25). The Rock keeps us balanced and teaches us how to balance every area of our lives (when we learn to trust, obey, and apply what He teaches us). Right now, my friends, I'm in a place where major adjustments need to be made. This week, I'll be taking time to set balance in every area of my life, marriage, family, and most importantly, my relationship with God. A messed up balance only breeds trouble and ruin but a good one makes life enjoyable (Proverbs 11:1). Before I close this out, I'd like for us this week and for the rest of our lives quote these words in our prayers before God. He tells us when we ask a thing out of a sincere heart He will give it to us (Matthew 7:7). This needs to be our prayer as a people who God desires to bless:

Job 31:6:

"Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity."

Let these words marinate and give us rest as well as peace for our weary and confused souls. dgwo.