Getting Balance Into Your Life

One day our granddaughters were at our house and I told one of them to do something. She looked up at me and said, “No, you’re in charge of ice-cream. Grandma is in charge of us.” They knew who the soft touch was. But there are many grown adults who look up at God and say, “You’re in charge of ice-cream, and I’m in charge of me.” We find surrendering to God’s purpose difficult.

The Bible says, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13). Your purpose is to live out and fulfill the purpose of God for your life. He is working to unfold that plan in your life, and your responsibility is to cooperate with his work in you. The Bible says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The grand purpose of your life is to know God and have an ongoing relationship with him that brings him glory in the way you live your life. The Bible says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). What is your purpose? It is to know God through his Son Jesus Christ and live for him. Your purpose is to do as much good as you can do for him and others. You are not here to serve and please yourself; you have a higher calling. If you don’t understand your purpose, then your life is built on the wrong foundation. And if your life is built on the wrong foundation, it does not matter how magnificent the structure is, it will crumble and fall.

Your primary purpose here is not to be successful or have a wonderful career. Your purpose is not to be happy or earn a lot of money. Your purpose is not even to find love and have a family. The Bible says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). It is not that these other things are bad, they are not, it is just that they cannot come before the main purpose for which you were created — to know God and glorify him with your life. When you get that straight, then the rest will all fall into place.

The second thing you have to do, if you are going to have balance in your life is: You have to establish your PRIORITIES. You may have a firm grasp of what your real purpose is in this world. You may understand that your life belongs to God, and that you are to live for him rather than yourself. But now you need to understand God’s specific plan for you. Begin by asking yourself, “What are my gifts? What are the specific talents and interests that God has put into my life? How can I use these to fulfill his purpose for me in this world?” The reason that these questions are important is that you may be doing many good things, but you may not be doing the things that God has in mind for you. Your area of interest may be music and you are serving on the finance committee of the church. That is probably not where you should be spending your time.