When my boys were younger they enjoyed playing with building toys…At first it was just blocks, then Tinker toys and  Lincoln logs.  Aaron still loves Legos and will spend hours on his creations.  As long as the designs are balanced, there is beauty.  But even if one piece is yanked away, the balance and beauty is destroyed.  Imbalance causes distortion and breakage in our lives—and when, after a struggle, the balance is restored, we find that it brings beauty and strength.  Someone once said to me “maintaining balance in life is a constant struggle.”  How in the world do you maintain balance today?  Especially for those of us in the ministry. 

We recently finished our 2nd winter in NYC on Staten Island.  There were a few times while driving that the snow was so blinding I couldn’t see to drive.  Maybe your life sometimes seems like that—a lot of little pieces flying around, obscuring your vision.  A blizzard of course, can’t be a blizzard without the wind.  The same is true for the blizzard feeling that over takes our minds and our lives.  By shutting off the wind you could end the blizzard.  

And you can.  The wind is your schedule.  You have to shut down your schedule to let all those pieces in your life settle to the ground, so you can see clearly.  When you feel you are in a blizzard, bring your schedule to a halt, even for a short time like an hour.  Go to Starbucks or somewhere, and ask yourself these questions:

Where am I experiencing imbalance?  

• Spiritual
• Marriage and Family
• Ministry
• Professional
• Physical
• Financial
• Social

You may think of your life as consisting of thousands of pieces but in reality these are the seven categories.  Everything you do affects the other areas.  The first step in regaining balance is pinpointing the area in which your imbalance is really happening.

Tomorrow I will post 7 Questions That Help Me Restore Balance.