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Life can often seem like a juggling act. Sometimes you have to keep so many balls in the air at the same time, and that can be an exhausting effort in futility. So much effort, so little gain.
I’m not talking about physical things, like balancing all the demands of a job, a family, a marriage and friendships. But chiefly add to these things all the doubt, fear, envy, stress, depression, shame, guilt, anger, carnal sexual desire, the need to please everyone around you, doubt, anxiety…..for yourself and for others you care about. Arguments, failure, need, politics, bitterness, the need to make a good impression, the fear of failure, worry, distaste for conflict, fear of physical confrontation, seeing your kids go in a wrong direction, make bad decisions, get bullied at school or at work, or hang out with the wrong crowd. Aging parents, and how all of that will be taken care of, and why don’t my siblings do more? Mistreatment at work, misunderstanding at home, weariness, not only physical, but also mental and emotional. Timidity, vanity, feelings of revenge, of being slighted, not appreciated. Fear of being in the wrong place, of going in the wrong direction, being with the wrong person, the wrong relationship, the wrong marriage. Not liking who you’re with, or who you are or are becoming. Health problems, emotional problems, when the future becomes a black hole; when you need answers but there are none; when nothing seems to work and the number of balls up in the air keeps increasing. When the more you do the less you are satisfied, the less thankful those around you seem to become. When it seems that you’re doing all the work, but others are getting the credit. You work while others complain. You stand strong, but the weak and the lazy get the rewards.
Have I covered it all? No, hardly. If we’re not worrying about what others are doing or saying or thinking about us, then we’re worrying about what they might be doing or saying or thinking. If we’re not feeling ashamed of what we’re doing when no one is watching, then we’re worrying about getting caught doing it. We can be so tired of being so tired all the time, tired of being so darn wrapped up in ourselves and our own problems, yet at the same time afraid that others will burden us down with their problems.
We’re caught up in a maelstrom of lies and half-truths, both our own and others, not knowing who or what to believe, so we make hard and fast decisions, determined to die fighting for them, when deep down we don’t even know why we made them. We’re caught up in a foggy web of weakness and fear, ineptitude and just plain feeling lost all the time. We can feel like no one, just no one understands us, and yet we do not understand ourselves and what drives us to do and think and feel the way we do. We feel lost and alone, without power and without purpose; without direction and without joy. We feel like any good times we have quickly leak out, whereas the bad times linger like a bad smell, so the accumulation is always on the negative side.
We succeed, but can’t seem to duplicate the success. We finally get something, but can’t seem to retain it. For every success there are 3 failures. And all the time we juggle, juggle, juggle, keeping all the balls up in the air as long as we can, just waiting for the time when everything fall down and into pieces and ruin and despair and despondency and……..death.
But there is an option. A different direction, different than how the whole world does it.
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you are called in one body, and be thankful.
Stop looking at the flesh, stop following the dictates of those powerful invisible forces which demand your obedience. Be ruled by peace, go in the innermost part of your hearts where there is no conflict, no fear, no recrimination, no condemnation, no distrust. Go to the right hand of God, the ticket for which Jesus Christ has paid in full, and to which that same man has paved your way. Look to and trust him, and he will do the juggling for you.
Proverbs 3:5, 6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
Lay your burdens down at the feet of Jesus Christ, and allow him, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God, to carry your load for you.
Matthew 11:29, 30 Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I cried as I typed this, because Jesus said that he is meek. I never really understood his statement in light of the context, until now. To be meek means to be willing to see things from another’s point of view. Jesus is willing to see things from your point of view, to relate and empathize with you. His spirit within you will not treat you like a nameless, faceless blob of humanity. Rather, he wants to get to know you, the same way he wants you to know him.
Matthew 6:33, 34 But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought (don’t worry about) tomorrow; for tomorrow shall take thought (worry about) the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Tomorrow can never be lived. Only right now. Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow. You worry about right now, what you can do. And what you can do is look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him to carry the load and direct your way and and do any worrying that needs to be worried. And what will happen is that you will lose your old, heavy life of continual juggling, and will receive in its place the life of Jesus Christ. Powerful, peaceful, joyous, rewarding.
Mark 8:35, 36 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
So the exhortation of God Himself, and of our Lord Jesus Christ is this: Give up the juggling, the burdens of life, which never lessen, but only grow in weight and odiousness. Give it up. Take on the “cross” of Jesus Christ. Take his life, his desire, his mind, and let his power within do the important juggling. Be like Paul.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loves me, and gives himself for me.
The things that really count can only be done by the spirit of Christ. Only Christ. Anything you can do, or are even trying to do, without him, don’t count with God.
John 15: 4, 5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches; He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.
So stop trying……to do it…….without him.
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Other studies that may bless you:
Spiritual Pinball
The Need To Be Right.
The Approval of Man
Vanity of the Mind
Dying to Self
