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| Photo credit: http://m.inmagine.com |
Starting
a new adventure can be overwhelming, to say the least. More and more I find
myself unbalanced and overwhelmed with the amount of work that has to be done
for the business we are building. There are papers to be filed, tax forms to be
filled out, things I had not even considered have come up and piled my “to do plate”
even higher. Every day something needs my attention, and every day I find less
time to do it. These feeling of being overwhelmed hit me pretty hard this week.
So hard in fact, that I cried out to the Lord in a fit of desperation for
guidance and wisdom. I needed to know what He wanted me to do- what was my next
step in this journey I was on. One word came into my mind, and one word has
played over and over again since I cried out to Him. “Balance”- I need balance.
I am walking
a tightrope, trying to balance all that I have to do with all that I need to
do. In one hand I am holding a list of things that need to be done in order for
us to move forward with the business. In the other hand is a list of things
that need to be done for the business, not to mention my duties as wife,
mother, writer and servant of the Lord. Each one pulls at my attention and to
one side I begin to topple. But, when I start to lean to one side, the other side
starts to slide. This is why I ended up before the Lord in a fit of
desperation, flat on my face before Him, because I couldn’t keep it all
balanced any more.
“You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
Isaiah 26:3 ESV
Priorities
are a must in our daily lives, whether we are walking down the path of a new
journey or just continuing with the one we are already on. Either way, we must
learn to prioritize. As a woman, wife, mother, and business owner, my day can
quickly become stacked up and backed up. I have to learn my boundaries. Every
day I have to set my boundaries, I have to know my boundaries, and I have to
learn to stick to those boundaries. I have to learn balance. This is hard
because I am a control freak. Let’s face it; most of us are control freaks. It
is one of the things that all mankind have in common. We have this mindset that
no one can do it like we do it, so it is just best if we do it ourselves. Not
to be harsh on my sex, but us women are the worst for it! (Be honest- you know
you are!) No one can clean, cook or take care of our homes better than us so we
just do it all.
No
matter what anyone tries to do for me, it will never be good enough so I just
end up doing it myself. This, however, has resulted in my husband and my
children not willing to do anything around the house to help me. There was one
instance in particular when my son was a young teenager. We were arguing about
his room and how I felt it was still not clean enough. All I saw was an
unorganized mess. All he saw was the disapproving look of his mother. We argued
for a few minutes then he said something to me that I believe was from the Lord
Himself. He said that no matter how clean he got it, it would never be good
enough. His words cut me to my heart because he was right. No matter how clean he
tried to get it, I always found something that I would have done or cleaned
differently. I was heartbroken. Since that day I never said another word to
him, or my daughter about their rooms. This same mindset I had with my son and
his room is the same mindset that has overtaken me in regards to our business.
The result is that now I find myself overwhelmed, unbalanced and about ready to
fall.
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Isaiah
tells us that if we keep our minds stayed on the Lord we will continue in
perfect peace. A peaceful person is a balanced person. A peaceful person is
okay with someone else doing it their way instead of my way. To keep our minds
stayed on the Lord means that we rest on Him.
When you have an object or
something that is unbalanced, what do you do with it? You lean it up against something.
You find something to support the weight so that it does not fall over and
break. We are the objects that are about to fall over, and our support, the One
who can take all our weight is the Lord-lean upon Him.
We have
to allow our minds to rest in the knowledge that God is and always will be in
control. We are not on this path by chance. This business we are building is
not something that just happened. It is not something that we just fell into.
This is what God has for us, and this is the journey that He has prepared for
us. He alone knows the outcome of every moment of my day. He knows the
beginning, the end and the pieces in between. We become overwhelmed and
unbalanced when we try to take control away from the Lord and stand on our own
two feet. It won’t work, my fellow traveler, you will fall over.
For us
to succeed in this life, in these journey’s we are on, we have to come to that
place where we lean upon Him because we understand what Sovereign means. We must
let go of the control and let God be God over every area of our lives, steps,
futures, and yes, even over our mistakes. The balance you need in this life is
the balance of letting go and letting God.
Isaiah
goes on to say that the balance, the peace we seek is found when we trust in
Him. When I read these words I immediately say to myself that I do trust the
Lord. But then again, do I? Do we truly understand what it means to trust the
Lord? Do we understand that for us to have balance in our daily lives we must
believe that our God is in complete control- even over the mistakes and mess-ups?
To truly trust the Lord means that we have complete confidence in Him. We do
not doubt for one second that God is in complete control. God is not surprised
by any event that happens to us, and if we truly trust in Him, then we won’t be
surprised either. Your day is not going as you planned, and this can cause us
to become unbalanced and overwhelmed. But trust that God already knew it was
going to become awry and He already has a plan for you to walk in (Ephesians
2:10). Trust Him to take the steering wheel. Trust that everything is in His
hands and has happened because He has allowed it to happen. That pot hole was
not an accident- He allowed it to be put there.
He is
not going to let this journey you are on take a wrong turn. He is not going to
let you spin out of control. He sees that patch of ice before you do. He is not
only in control of the car, but He is the car and you can’t get there without
Him. The reason why you are overwhelmed and unbalanced is because you are
trying to drive. God doesn’t need a back seat driver- its okay- you can let go
of the emergency brake now. He has this.
I am
overwhelmed because I am trying to control the outcome of everything that is to
happen for this business. I am trying to own, operate and oversee without
letting anyone else have a part with me in it, which is pretty sad considering
that I am partners with my daughter in law! She has the same heart that I do
for our clients; she has the same goals and dreams that I do for this business.
God did not put her in this business with me by chance. She has her strengths
and I have mine. She has her weaknesses and I have mine. I have to trust God
that no matter what happens; He is the One I am leaning on. He is in control.
He is Sovereign over the good, the bad and even my ugly. We all have a partner,
someone that God has allowed to be in the car with us. Don’t be afraid to let
them sit in the front seat from time to time. You are not alone, never have
been and never will be. Don’t be afraid to let go and let God bring along
people to help you get to where He is taking you. Sit back, lean on Him and
enjoy the ride.
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