Hike Leadership Forward – Balance

On certain days, a leader feels like he/she is juggling four balls at once while spinning a dozen plates on sticks while riding a unicycle on a thin high wire stretched across Niagara Falls. One bad decision or one slight slip of the tongue or one wrong turn and all stability will take a tumble.

There are other days when the anxiety of the demands of others crushes the joy out of life. On Monday, you are trying to meet a deadline when you realize that you are late for your 3:00 appointment and you are double booked at 4:00… and then you spill coffee on your new shirt. Late Tuesday afternoon finds you exhausted after a four-hour business meeting and your phone chimes with the reminder of your daughter’s piano recital at 7:00. Only two days into the work week and you are ready to resign….for the fifth time.

There is no end to great advice and positive suggestions designed to bring balance into our lives. Most of the exhortations are not rocket science and they make perfect sense: Build margin into your schedule; set boundaries and learn to say “no”; establish a routine of good exercise, healthy eating, and proper sleep; maintain a daily schedule that reflects your priorities; think positively; be willing to make compromises; develop habits & hobbies….and on the suggestions flow. Sometimes. the advice itself is overwhelming and the multiple “steps” to finding balance are alone enough to knock you off center.

The reality is that balance is a constant struggle. Trying to maintain life balance tends to be like a roller coaster. Just about the time I think I have life under control I drop off the peak of self-organization and plummet down the hill seemingly out of control and hoping that I can stay on the tracks.

This short blog is not going to solve the balance issues of life. So much of balance is individual. My system of evaluation and planning might seem asinine to you and your style might be unbearably legalistic to me. The peace of finding a good balance in life varies with personality, life goals, talents and calling. But, let me share a principle that can apply to all of us as we consider obtaining and maintaining balance in our lives, our careers, our family, our church, and our relationships.

The principle is found in the words of Jesus.

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him,  ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus… ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” Mark 12:28-30.

This might seem rather simplistic, but I think the key to balance is love. But, not just any love and not just unidirectional love. Notice that Jesus uses the word “all” four times in this one statement. This is a focused love, an all-inclusive love, all-encompassing love.

This principle is filled with stepping-stones for balance. Let me quickly mention five.

1. The object of our love is not ourselves, not our spouses, not our family, not our careers, and not our wealth. The one and only object of our love is “the Lord your God.” The times of imbalance in my experience occur most often when I get my eyes off God and focused on something else. The “something else” might be good and appropriate but it is not God and it leads me to get out of whack.  As the wonderful old chorus declares, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
2. Our love should involve all of our heart. We are not to be half-hearted, but totally committed, and all-in. The heart is the seat and center of all physical and spiritual life. The New Testament word for heart involves the concepts of thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and endeavors.
3. Our love should incorporate all of our soul. The Greek word that Jesus uses is the root words for our English word “psychology.” Literally it means “to breathe” or “the breath of life.” Theologically it is seen as the part of man that is immortal, the part that does not dissolve at death. 
4. Our love for God engages all our minds. Every thought, every plan, every agenda, every idea needs to flow from our love for God; they need to come under the control of the Lord; they need to reflect the will of the heavenly Father.
5. Finally, our love must tap into all our strength. All of our abilities, talents, gifts, efforts, hours of work, family energies, calendars, exercise, diets, sleep… everything that fills our every day requires the balance of our love for the Lord our God.

Love is the key to balance. Applying the principle of loving God supremely is not easy but it must touch every aspect of life. The constant application of this principle will enable the leader to find the path of balance in the midst of a chaotic and demanding world. 

Photo of Stones found at Stepping Stones – Middletown Christian Church

Photo of spinning plates found at Trying to Spin Too Many Plates at The Same Time Can Make You Dizzy – Solution Building