In our twenties, many of us are still in college, grad school, working, some of us are married, some of us have children, and some of us have careers to keep up. We seem to be very busy all the time, and we are constantly trying to balance everything in our lives. We want to make time for everyone and everything, while still being responsible and handling the things that need to get done. We are trying to find stability, and get all of our ducks in a row, and sometimes everything spirals out of control and we don’t have a handle on anything. I have been there but I have found that for me, the key to having a balanced life is prioritizing. Figuring out what is most important to me, what should come first. I have also learned, the hard way, that when God is our number 1 priority everything else in our life seems to fall in place. This does not mean that everything is going to be a breeze it means that we will worry less because we know God has it under control. We know that God is holding us up and together.
Matthew 6:33-34
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
The first step to living a balanced life is to keep God first. As the scripture says above we must seek first the kingdom of God. Christ should be our top priority, nothing and no one should come before Him. Anything we put before God is an idol. God says we should have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3) After the first step everything else will fall into place. This does not mean we stop working towards our goals and the things we want out of life, as the scripture says 'Faith without works is dead' (James 2:17). This means we keep God first and trust Him with our life, and everything will fall into place.
- Make a list of your priorities, without thinking about it, just write the first thing that comes to mind. When you are done, read over that list. What is number one?
- Now write a second list of priorities, writing God as number one if He wasn’t already. How different would your life look if God came before everything and everyone?
Many times trying to balance life, and work, and family, and relationships can lead to a world of stress, and anxiety. We want to make sure that our spiritual lives are good, that we have a social life, and spending time with the people we love and care about, and then we want to take care of ourselves.Then we have school and work, children to take care of, we try to make sure that everything is taken care of. This will drive anyone crazy. We put so much pressure on ourselves to have everything together, and perfect. We tend to worry about the things we cannot do anything about. We want our lives to run smoothly, and the way we planned, I’m sorry but life is a bumpy ride it never goes how we expect.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
The best advice someone ever gave me was to live for today because tomorrow's not promised. We have to take life day by day or even moment by moment because at any time life can change drastically. God has us taken care of, He knows where we are going, and when we seek His kingdom first, we do not have to worry about what will happen tomorrow or the next day, we just have to keep waking up and taking those steps of faith to get to the place God has for us.
Reflection (sort of)
- Slow down, step back and breathe, you are okay. Everything will be fine.
- Realize that we are unable to balance life on our own, our grip isn’t strong enough, but God can help us. He can keep us balanced even when we feel like we are hanging on by a thread.
- Seek God first. Everything else will fall into place.
Life is hard, but God makes it so much easier.
Prayer Time
Ask God to help you prioritize, and balance your life. Talk to Him about what it means to seek His kingdom. Be honest with Him and remember that prayer is just a conversation with God.
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