9 years ago I had a pretty serious motorcycle wreck. I was leaving the University of Louisiana and a drunk driver plowed into my beautiful yellow Honda CBR 600. I didn't have time to even think just thud. I don't remember much about the incident except for a state trooper asking me who the president was. Abe Lincoln was my answer. Obviously, I was seriously jacked up. I recovered after about three months of intense physical therapy but one thing lingered for a few more months: Vertigo.
Have you ever experienced Vertigo? It's one of the worst feelings on the planet. You can't seem to catch your balance, you feel as if everything is fine and then the room tilts to the left. It's a weird. It's a terrible feeling to be out of balance because all of the world is based on this principle of balance.
The principle of nature is that the world is perfectly balanced. It is tilted at a certain angle and rotates at a certain number of miles per hour without any vibration. The world is in balance.
In nature, the ecologists study the ecosystems where the food chain and the checks and balances in nature take care of each other.
In architecture, there's balance. There's the balance within a structure. Engineers know that if a building isn't built right and the stress isn't balanced, it will collapse or a bridge will fall through.
In the same way that the world is balanced God wants our personal lives to be balanced.
Ecclesiastes 7:18 (New International Version)
18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes .
Proverbs 28:2 "A man of understanding and knowledge maintains order."
He has balance in his life.
1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace."
God wants things to be in balance and equilibrium.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "There is a time for everything..."
God wants us to live balanced lives.
Let's make it really simple. Tires have to be balanced.
If the tires on your car are not balanced, you're going to have a bumpy ride. It can cause a blowout; not fun for anyone involved.
If you get an imbalanced tire, eventually it will rub in the wrong place. You get a bulge, a bald spot and it will blow out. Likewise in your life, like tires that are imbalanced, you will get rubbed the wrong way and eventually blow out. Tires blow out but people burn out because of imbalance. Just like a tire that is out of balance wears the wrong way, when your life is imbalanced you wear out much quicker. You get tired easier, depressed more often, anxiety sets in and before you know it, you are ready to give up before you've even started.
What does the Bible have to say about being balanced?
Luke 2:52 (New International Version)
52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
• He grew in wisdom. That means He grew intellectually or mentally.
• He grew in stature. That means He grew physically.
• He grew in favor with God. That means He developed spiritually.
• He grew in favor with man. That means He developed socially.
We need to grow in those same 4 areas. If you're not growing in these areas you are out of balance and you need to do something to fix the problem. Some people overkill in one area and leave the other areas untouched. Did you know that if you pray all the time and never exercise that you are out of balance.
Yeah, we usually don't hear about gluttony, but that doesn't mean it's not a sin.
In the immortal words of Madea, "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself."
Get your life in balance and you will live happier, healthier, and be more pleasing to Christ.
Love you guys. Have a balanced day.
