09/18/18





Remember those days at the park where you would pretend to be a gymnast? One of my favorite pieces of playground equipment was the balance beam. Having to carefully balance my body in such a way so that I wouldn’t fall. And then when I got “good”, I would balance on one leg. And then when I felt really fancy I would do a cartwheel. And then I was on some olympic gold medal type of stuff and doing a one handed cartwheel, and sticking my landing. I’m telling you I missed my calling. And so I carried that balancing act into my life. Where I balanced work, school, social life, and eventually motherhood. I thought I had it all together until one day I realized the truth...I really didn’t. I began to feel myself sinking, literally and figuratively. Long gone were the days of one handed cartwheels. I can barely stand up straight on two feet. Somewhere along the line, I became unbalanced. I placed all of my faith, hope, love, and trust in the things of this world. And the world was never meant to be my rock. So it did what it was supposed to do, and apart of that is failing me. See I took my eyes off my father. You know the trick to balance is to focus on one spot, and my spot to focus on was Christ. Yet, I took my eyes off of him and was looking everywhere else. And because of that I wobbled, and wiggled, until I eventually fell. And I’m not saying that you won’t fall, as Christ still has some things to teach us. But that fall hurts less when you have someone there to soften the blow.


One of my favorite parables in the bible is the one where Jesus walks on water. (Matthew 14:22-23). If you don’t know long story short one his Jesus disciples named Peter saw Jesus walking toward the boat. The only possible way to do this was to walk on water, but seeing how that wasn’t possible Peter thought he was seeing things. So Peter asked Jesus to allow him to walk on the water, to prove that it. And Jesus did just that. He bid him to come. I can picture it in my head. Peter confidently placing one foot in front of the other, arms out at his side, eyes focused on Christ, and grinning from ear to ear. Perfectly balanced and protected. But then he became afraid when the wind blew him just a little bit. He may have swayed slightly, but Peter took his eyes of Christ and became afraid, and for that he began to sink. Jesus saved him but was disappointed. He said to Peter in v 31 “You of little faith..why did you doubt me?” I’m the first to admit that I took my eyes of Christ during this season, because I thought I had everything under control. What my pride failed to remind me was that everything was only under control, because God was in control. What things do you need to shed today (or even add) so that you may refocus your attention on God and become balanced again. I don’t know about you but I still have hope. I may not literally become the next Simone Biles, but I want to stick my landing next time I’m on the balance beam. But only by way of God.