The Balancing Act
Introduction
Let’s start today by hitting a topic we all desperately need to think and hear about, “How do we learn to enjoy the balancing act of life?” Let’s watch some people who’ve learned the lesson well or learned the hard way. Oh, and feel free to LAUGH!
We need to laugh, don’t we? We want to have a good time, relax, let down our hair. We love watching sitcoms, great funny movies, or listen to the best jokes.
“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.” Mark Twain
“Good humor is one of the preservatives of our peace and tranquility.” Thomas Jefferson
“Humor helps us to think out of the box. The average child laughs about 400 times per day, the average adult laughs only 15 times per day. What happened to the other 385 laughs?” –
He who laughs, lasts. –Mary Pettibone Poole.
- Life doesn’t come with humor. It drains, discourages, and depresses us. That’s why we look for happiness and humor.
- There’s a greater laughter than laughing at others. There’s a greater happiness than what can be gained from a new car, first date, or a promotion.
Big Idea: Life can be more meaningful and enjoyable than the comedies of late night TV. We can learn to enjoy the balancing act of life. God gives joy for life.
- Where does the joy of life and enjoying the stresses and challenges of life come from? And how do we live a life of joy throughout the balancing act?
- The Bible offers some key principles for finding joy in the balancing act of life. We’re going to examine the Apostle Paul’s teaching in Philippians. Here he writes:
Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy. Philippians 4:4, NCV.
- Here’s the picture when those words were written, and the letter that offers us the profound principles on how to do live like that:
Go with me back in history a couple of thousand years. Let’s go to
It is the apostle Paul.… The preacher who was committed to following God is now in chains—stuck in a dingy house—attached to a Roman officer… He is writing a letter. No doubt it is a complaint letter to God. No doubt it is a list of grievances.… He has every reason to be bitter and complain. But he doesn’t. Instead, he writes a letter that two thousand years later is still known as the treatise on joy—Philippians.… so, why don’t we spend some time with learning from it? Lucado, Grace for the Moment.
- Let’s take a look at what Paul’s letter has to say about finding joy in the stress of life:
Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above… 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own… Philippians 3:13-14, 20-21, NCV.
- The key to enjoying life is perspective. It doesn’t seem all that funny in the moment, when it’s your thumb or your reputation or your pride. But if your watching life can actually be very entertaining. It’s always a matter of perspective.
- When we look to God, we see life as God sees it: not in the moment, but as a process of living His best for us and discovering how we can be part of the greater Cause of giving His love away to others.
“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.” -Thomas Kinkade
- Our joy, laughter, humor, and happiness are not rooted in us but in God and serving others. It’s “others-focused” rather than “me-focused”.
2. Be Content!
“…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13, NIV.
- The joy of life, especially in the moment, day-to-day stresses and challenges, fatigues and failures, is not found in our successes, material wealth, or finally attaining the American dream. Our true happiness and joy everyday is founded in being content with the life God has given us.
- The word Paul uses for “content” comes from Stoic philosophy, to describe who impassively person who accepts whatever happens in life. Circumstances that he could not change were regarded fate, and fretting was useless. This philosophy fostered a self-sufficiency in which all the resources for coping with life were located within man himself.
- In contrast, Paul says that his sufficiency in Jesus who provides his necessary strength and joy in life. Paul wasn’t trying to muster some fading happiness or teach “mind-over-matter-positive-thinking-self-help”. He was acknowledging that left on our own, life is depressing, but when Jesus is the source of life, we can enjoy it.
- We must get our eyes off of the things going on in life, and learn to be “content” whatever is going on around us by looking to God. Rather than complain, say “thanks”. Rather than look at what is wrong, look for what is great. Illus. of Pessimist mug. Oh, by the way, I have the answer for whether the glass is half full or empty, ask! Stop striving for more, starting enjoying what we have. Stop waiting until, and learn to enjoy the moment.
- This is not a false-reality. We are not exempt from suffering, anguish, wrestling through the things of life and trying to balance them. Our joy and happiness are found in the fact that this is not our only reality. There is a greater and more real reality in God.
Be full of joy in the Lord always. I will say again, be full of joy. Philippians 4:4, NCV.
- We must learn to celebrate often. Celebrate holidays, birthdays, anniversary, events, non-events (you know, the accident that didn’t happen), milestones, and make up reasons to celebrate. Not sure if this is biblical?
- What’s the whole point of about 2/3 of the boring books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? Teaching the nation of
- Where was Jesus first recorded miracle? A wedding where people were celebrating. He didn’t stand on the outside and preach, he joined in the fun and celebration. Matter of fact, the religious crowd mocked him for this type of behavior, saying “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners” (Matthew 11:18, NIV).
- Jesus taught about the women who lost her silver and found it. Her response when she found it, “she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’” (15:6). Then, the shepherd who lost his sheep and later found it, “He calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me…” (15:9). Finally, there’s a father who lost his son and then found him- “Let’s have a feast and celebrate” (15:23). What was the response of each of these who found what they were looking for? Celebration. And Jesus concludes each story by saying, "Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.” Luke 15:10, Msg.
- If God knows how to party and celebrate, isn’t it appropriate for us to learn to celebrate often.
How do we enjoy the balancing act of life?
- Look to God
- Be Content
- Celebrate Often
