Growing by Leaps and Boundaries

Category: Balance, Faith, Spiritual Growth

Do we ever feel like a tightrope walker? Is it hard to keep your balance as you juggle your family, work, and church responsibilities? How can you find adequate time to parent your children, interact with your friends, reach out to your neighbors, and develop your relationship with God? The more serious you are about serving the Lord, the more you may struggle with this dilemma. Your life can become so out of balance that a blazing pace replaces amazing grace.

Many voices clamor for our attention. Church leaders ask us to work tirelessly and give sacrificially. Counselors remind us to take care of ourselves and keep our families strong. Bible teachers correctly remind us to be faithful to the Scriptures and never compromise the truth. Others rightly call us to be people of holiness and prayer. There's wisdom in all of this advice; but it's often hard to find a healthy balance—especially in a culture where we're bombarded by temptation to devote ourselves to the false gods of money, work, entertainment, and self.

What can we do? Is it really possible to live balanced lives in today's unbalanced world? Let me suggest a simple strategy: growing by leaps and boundaries.

To set boundaries, we should start with the Bible. We must speak where Scripture speaks, and be silent where Scripture is silent. There's a character boundary. We must not allow anything to compromise our integrity, cripple our example, or weaken our witness. And we're wise to set thoughtful boundaries to protect our family time and maintain our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Jesus came to give us abundant life (John 10:10), not to wear us down and burn us out. It's OK to say "no" to overcommitment and unhealthy demands.

Yet it seems to me that every Christian needs to take some "leaps" from time to time. Too many boundaries can prevent us from living by faith. While we strive for balance, we shouldn't become so cautious, so careful, so self-absorbed, so overly-structured and preoccupied with our personal comforts that we are unwilling to tackle new adventures the Lord has in store for us. Often spiritual growth is a slow, time-consuming process. But there also are times when we need to quit analyzing and simply take action! Zacchaeus wasn't preoccupied with balancing his life when he gave half of his possessions to the poor—he was stepping out in faith because Christ had changed his life! Mary wasn't thinking about "balance" when she lovingly anointed Jesus' feet with expensive perfume—she was motivated by an extravagant devotion that could hardly be contained. The apostle Paul poured himself out in unselfish service to Christ. Some would call this "unbalanced." Paul called it "fighting the good fight of faith."

In a sense, the Christian life will never be perfectly balanced—because when we live by faith, we're always stretching, growing, "pushing the envelope," and testing the limits of what's possible. Following Christ isn't just a routine you can fit neatly into your schedule; it's an adventure that includes plenty of leaps of love and faith.

The calendar doesn't say so, but maybe this needs to be a "leap year"—a time for you to take some giant steps of faith. Or perhaps you need to set some healthy boundaries this year so you can say "no" more wisely and "yes" more enthusiastically.

If we seek his wisdom, our gracious God will help us find the right balance.