This writing is a little different than what most of you are used to seeing from me. We are shifting the focus of the ministry slightly and gearing it more towards helping people take the gifts and talents God has given them and applying those to your natural life so that you can be successful. You will see that my writings are going to become more practical, things that you can immediately apply to your life today. It doesn't mean they won't have a prophetic element but that the prophetic element will be displayed through showing you how you can take what you know and be successful in your family, business, career, and all aspects of your personal life.
This writing is a little different than what most of you are used to seeing from me. We are shifting the focus of the ministry slightly and gearing it more towards helping people take the gifts and talents God has given them and applying those to your natural life so that you can be successful. You will see that my writings are going to become more practical, things that you can immediately apply to your life today. It doesn't mean they won't have a prophetic element but that the prophetic element will be displayed through showing you how you can take what you know and be successful in your family, business, career, and all aspects of your personal life. I believe, as Christians, we are called to be the most successful people in life. Why? Because we have been given gifts and talents for the purpose of being successful AND making others successful.
I've been thinking lately on balance. How do we balance life? How do we find that perfect, equal, distribution of life's responsibilities so that we live a life of balance? As someone who juggles several different things, children, wife, ministry, business, and the ordinary day-to-day, week-to-week, responsibilities that we all have such as maintaining our homes and paying the bills, I found myself questioning from time to time, "How do I properly balance these things and still be effective in these areas?" As I talk to others and do research I find more and more people are involved in both ministry and business, which can be very challenging. Do I have all the answers to this question? I sure don't, but I might be able to help with a piece to the puzzle.
What is Balance?
Balance: "to arrange, adjust, or proportion the parts of symmetrically." I did some research on how tightrope walkers learn to balance. There are many equations and methods, as well as a science behind, learning how to balance that I won't attempt to explain or even pretend I understand. However, what stuck out to me the most was one article that mentioned how tightrope walkers eventually find their "sweet spot." The place where you find the best balance and you become the most effective is your sweet spot. I grew up playing baseball, starting at a very young age and playing all the way through high school. A baseball bat has a sweet spot on it, when you hit the ball in that sweet spot you get the best distance. You can tell when you hit the sweet spot, the bat doesn't vibrate, it's a solid sound and feel and you just know when you've hit it.
Balancing the responsibilities of life isn't easy but it becomes easier when you discover your sweet spot. That can come in many forms. It may be the time of day at which you do things. It may be the day of the week in which you perform certain tasks. In your work environment it may be the order in which you do things. Balancing life, ministry, and business isn't easy but you'll find yourself more effective when you discover what that sweet spot is. Part of discovering that is knowing what you're called to do and knowing what you aren't called to do. Knowing what you aren't called to do is just as important as knowing what you are called to do. When you begin to discover this, and learn to know what to say yes to, and what to say no to, is when you begin to discover your sweet spot and you begin to experience balance.
So, how do you do all of this? Again, I don't have all the answers but I may have some tools. The biggest discipline that works for me is to start the week by listing the things you must do, in order of priority, and putting timelines on those things. Once you've accomplished this, you can then do the same task daily. You know what you must accomplish this week, so, now what do I have to accomplish today? This process may not give you all the answers and it may not even cause you to accomplish everything. What it will do, however, is help you to balance your life, lessen your stress, and make you feel like you've accomplished something. It's at this point when you will begin to find your sweet spot. It will help you define what's important and what is not.
There's so much more I could write around this subject and there will be more in the future. I know this isn't my typical style of writing, but I hope this helps some of you who struggle, just as I have, with finding balance in life. Stay tuned for more. Be blessed!
"Do you see any truly competent workers? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people." (Proverbs 22:29, NLT) "Observe people who are good at their work — skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a back seat to anyone." (Proverbs 22:29, The Message) I believe that we are called, as followers of Christ, not to take a back seat to anyone but to rise to the top and "serve kings." You may not literally serve a king, but it gives the picture of someone who is of importance. Whether you work in business or ministry, or both, you also need people around you that can help you with your vision.
Procrastination is something that we all deal with from time to time. Some may deal with it more than others. For some it may be almost a way of life where others may only deal with it periodically. Either way, procrastination can hold up our progress and delay success. So, how do we shift from procrastination to acceleration? It starts by understanding the meaning behind these two words as well as the root of what causes procrastination. Once we know that, we can develop a plan for our own lives that moves us from a mode of procrastination to a mode of acceleration.
In my last post I talked about balance and today I want to talk about structure, and the importance of it. As I mentioned in my last post, my writings are taking a slight shift. I want you to begin to see how you can take the things that we learn in the spiritual realm, the talents and gifts that God gives us, and apply them to our natural world. How can we take these things and use what God has given us to be successful in our everyday natural world? Being structured is key to finding and keeping balance in your life. You're working in business, yet you have a call for ministry, like me, and you must balance those two parts of your life. You're called to have your feet in both worlds. Defining a structure will help you to do this and be successful.