Too Much of a Good Thing
Let's think about some good things... things that are good for us.
Water. That's really good for us. Keeps us healthy and hydrated.
Work. Another good thing with a reward.
Marriage. According to the world's standards this one might meet some opposition, but over all this is a very good thing. It is part of God's plan for man and woman and it brings many rewards.
Children. They are precious, innocent and what keeps the world going round. They make us into different families than we were before they came along.
Friends. Friends are invaluable. My friends make me laugh. They challenge me to be someone better than I am. They are funny and fun to be with. They are not family so I get to pick who I hang out with. They are a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.
Now all of these things are really good, but sometimes we get too much of a good thing and the result... well, not always so good.
Too much water will drown us. While it is essential to our well being physically, you get too much water and it can be detrimental. It can destroy and it can overwhelm.
Work is another thing that can drown us. Maybe not a physical drowning, but an emotional or mental drowning. Too much work and not enough play can really cause someone to become disconnected with family and friends and with the real world. While the money can be good (and is necessary for our survival in today's world) if we work too much it can really cause problems in our families, our friendships and our physical well being. Balance is so important when it comes to work and when we get out of balance... well, it can sometimes be difficult to regain the healthy balanced state that we need.
Marriage is awesome. I treasure this partnership and love how the Lord uses my husband to bring strengths into my home that I do not possess. He is fun and so much my opposite that he brings a totally different perspective to most things in life. Marriage is also hard. It is work. Those differences can become walls that divide and those perspectives can be areas of conflict. Sometimes a step back or a step in is necessary to regain our focus and that requires cooperation and communication from both parties involved.
Children truly are a gift from God. It is those times when they have been bored for FAR too long or when they are hitting a rebellious streak when they can become overwhelming. OR when there are 21 children in a classroom... while each are precious in their own right when you get all of the precious ones together... one could easily run from the building. Screaming. Naked. Naked and screaming from a building that one could consider setting on fire.
Friends are also a gift from God. The Lord puts these precious people in our paths to encourage us. He sometimes gives us friends for a lifetime and sometimes they are in our lives for a season. The hard thing comes when mulitiple friends come with different backgrounds, beliefs and expectations. Those things collide and somehow feelings are hurt, words are spoken and hearts are broken and friendships get so hard that they are hard to maintain. While it is never the goal to hurt someone it sometimes just happens because we are all sinners and we are all different. Wounds get deep and are hard to heal at times.
Each of these things are things that we deal with on a daily basis. Our health, our relationships and our families are all things that affect us in one way or another. Sometimes we get it right. It seems that we just click along in each of these and things go smoothly for a while. Sometimes we get it wrong. One or more of these things get out of whack and we can just go into a tailspin.
One thing that we can not get too much of, however, is Jesus. I did not say church. I said Jesus. He is the one who has a plan for our lives that is better than any plan that we could ever create. He is concerned about every aspect of our lives and wants us to live by His plan. The reason He gives us Sunday is so that we can worship and rest.
Rest. He knows that we need to recouperate and recover each week as we face the difficulties of the GOOD things in our lives. The bad things that happen come along and they just compound the good things and then we really get overwhelmed. According to God's plan we are to rest and we are to lay these things at His feet. He wants such an intimate relationship with each of us that we bring each of the good (and bad) things to Him and ask that His will be done. He also wants us to listen as He instructs us on how to live this life.
There are many good things in our world. It's just that when we get too much of a good thing it's not such a good thing. Balance is essential and without a relationship with Christ balance is almost impossible. Even WITH that relationship it can be hard.
Lord, help us to balance the things that you bless us with. Give us the ability to sense when we need rest and then act on it. Help us to not be so out of balance that we miss the blessings in the good things that you bring our way. Give us discernment when things are getting too busy for our own good and help us to lay our lives down before You. If we let You, You will rescue us from ourselves! Please Lord! Rescue us!
Water. That's really good for us. Keeps us healthy and hydrated.
Work. Another good thing with a reward.
Marriage. According to the world's standards this one might meet some opposition, but over all this is a very good thing. It is part of God's plan for man and woman and it brings many rewards.
Children. They are precious, innocent and what keeps the world going round. They make us into different families than we were before they came along.
Friends. Friends are invaluable. My friends make me laugh. They challenge me to be someone better than I am. They are funny and fun to be with. They are not family so I get to pick who I hang out with. They are a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.
Now all of these things are really good, but sometimes we get too much of a good thing and the result... well, not always so good.
Too much water will drown us. While it is essential to our well being physically, you get too much water and it can be detrimental. It can destroy and it can overwhelm.
Work is another thing that can drown us. Maybe not a physical drowning, but an emotional or mental drowning. Too much work and not enough play can really cause someone to become disconnected with family and friends and with the real world. While the money can be good (and is necessary for our survival in today's world) if we work too much it can really cause problems in our families, our friendships and our physical well being. Balance is so important when it comes to work and when we get out of balance... well, it can sometimes be difficult to regain the healthy balanced state that we need.
Marriage is awesome. I treasure this partnership and love how the Lord uses my husband to bring strengths into my home that I do not possess. He is fun and so much my opposite that he brings a totally different perspective to most things in life. Marriage is also hard. It is work. Those differences can become walls that divide and those perspectives can be areas of conflict. Sometimes a step back or a step in is necessary to regain our focus and that requires cooperation and communication from both parties involved.
Children truly are a gift from God. It is those times when they have been bored for FAR too long or when they are hitting a rebellious streak when they can become overwhelming. OR when there are 21 children in a classroom... while each are precious in their own right when you get all of the precious ones together... one could easily run from the building. Screaming. Naked. Naked and screaming from a building that one could consider setting on fire.
Friends are also a gift from God. The Lord puts these precious people in our paths to encourage us. He sometimes gives us friends for a lifetime and sometimes they are in our lives for a season. The hard thing comes when mulitiple friends come with different backgrounds, beliefs and expectations. Those things collide and somehow feelings are hurt, words are spoken and hearts are broken and friendships get so hard that they are hard to maintain. While it is never the goal to hurt someone it sometimes just happens because we are all sinners and we are all different. Wounds get deep and are hard to heal at times.
Each of these things are things that we deal with on a daily basis. Our health, our relationships and our families are all things that affect us in one way or another. Sometimes we get it right. It seems that we just click along in each of these and things go smoothly for a while. Sometimes we get it wrong. One or more of these things get out of whack and we can just go into a tailspin.
One thing that we can not get too much of, however, is Jesus. I did not say church. I said Jesus. He is the one who has a plan for our lives that is better than any plan that we could ever create. He is concerned about every aspect of our lives and wants us to live by His plan. The reason He gives us Sunday is so that we can worship and rest.
Rest. He knows that we need to recouperate and recover each week as we face the difficulties of the GOOD things in our lives. The bad things that happen come along and they just compound the good things and then we really get overwhelmed. According to God's plan we are to rest and we are to lay these things at His feet. He wants such an intimate relationship with each of us that we bring each of the good (and bad) things to Him and ask that His will be done. He also wants us to listen as He instructs us on how to live this life.
There are many good things in our world. It's just that when we get too much of a good thing it's not such a good thing. Balance is essential and without a relationship with Christ balance is almost impossible. Even WITH that relationship it can be hard.
Lord, help us to balance the things that you bless us with. Give us the ability to sense when we need rest and then act on it. Help us to not be so out of balance that we miss the blessings in the good things that you bring our way. Give us discernment when things are getting too busy for our own good and help us to lay our lives down before You. If we let You, You will rescue us from ourselves! Please Lord! Rescue us!
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