Balance

Psalms 100:4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

‘It is better to live on the corner of a roof than to live with a nagging person’. Sometimes, we can be nagging in our relationship with God. Even earthly children know that to receive the best from their parents, they must butter them up to ensure that they are in a good mood. How much more should we praise God and be grateful for what He’s already given us before we ask for more? We human beings eventually tire of people who call on us only when they need something. Though God is not a man to get tired of His people, neither is He a genie. Let us balance our prayers with praise and thanksgiving as well as our requests and confessions, if not focus more on the former.

Lamentations 3:22 KJV
[22] It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

You are just one bad decision away from prison, one bad news away from a heart attack; one trauma away from the psychiatric hospital; you are one incident away from unemployment, one mistake away from divorce, one accident or sickness away from death. Whatever blessing you have now is not permanent on its own; it is being sustained by the grace of God as He sees fit, otherwise it is just one step away from becoming a nightmare. “There but for the grace of God, go I” (John Bradford).

Peace

John 14:27 KJV
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

No wonder we are usually disappointed when we expect peace from people, situations, and places, anyway on this planet. The peace the world gives is fake and conditional. Only the peace that comes from God does not have any sorrow attached to it. “It’s only God who gives you peace and rest” (Greta Zwaan).

Falling

Revelation 2:4-5 KJV
[4] Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [5] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

“How are the mighty fallen!” is what comes to mind when we hear scandals of prominent Christians. A lot of people start out in the Christian faith with good intentions, but if care is not taken, the problems of this world overcomes the enthusiasm needed to run the race. Though not easy, let us renew our minds every day with the Word, and repent of the sin that easily hinders.

Maturity

John 1:27 KJV
[27] He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

There is always someone better than you in a way unique to their own life purpose. Maturity is staying in your lane instead of trying to one-up people with your own set of God-given skills. It is easy to lose perspective when you try to be like or better than someone else. Everyone is unique in their own way. Acknowledging that someone is higher or better than you at something does not take anything away from you. “Humility will open more doors than arrogance ever will” (Zig Ziglar)

Hundredfold

Genesis 26:12 KJV
[12] Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.

Hundred times zero is still zero. God’s blessings do not come in a void. If you cross your arms expecting manna to fall from heaven when you are perfectly capable of putting some things into actions in your life yourself, you cannot expect an increase. While waiting on God for whatever blessing you expect from Him, do the best with the resources you have. “Do your best and leave the rest to God” (Manisha Koirala).

WWPT?

Ecclesiastes 7:21 KJV
[21] Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:

One of the most destiny altering (and not for the better) questions is “What would people think?”. God knows how many people have gone to their graves without living their best life because they wanted to live a life which everyone around them would be okay with. As humans we are social creatures and as such we cannot escape other people’s commentary on our life choices. However, you are the only one whose okay you need to live the life your intuition tells you to. “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks” (Winston Churchill).

Former Days

Ecclesiastes 7:10 KJV
[10] Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.

The last time the world was peaceful was in the garden of Eden. Since then it has been chaotic. To wish for the life before the pandemic is ambiguous. How far back would you go? To 1918, when there was a similar pandemic, or to the Great Depression, to the World wars, or to when women were second class citizens, or to legalized slavery, or the Apartheid or to 9/11, or to the 2008 financial crisis, or to the child abuse, spousal abuse, human trafficking, suicides, terminal diseases, forced marriages, honor killings, civil wars etc happening in the world right up to the pandemic? When has life ever been easy worldwide? Humanity has always gone through bad times; to look back on the past as some golden era is wishful thinking. We need to press on as we always have. “Any day above ground is a good day. Before you complain about anything, be thankful for your life and the things that are still going well” (Germany Kent).

Fear

Psalm 56:3 KJV
[3] What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

“Notice: it does not say, “I never struggle with fear.” Fear strikes, and the battle begins. So the Bible does not assume that true believers will have no anxieties. Instead, the Bible tells us how to fight when they strike… It does not say, you will never feel any anxieties. It says, when you have them, cast them on God” (John Piper).

From John Piper’s devotional “How To Fight Anxiety”

“Work in Progress”

1 Corinthians 5:1 KJV
It is reported *commonly* that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

Sometimes, though Christians, we do what even some ‘respectable’ unbelievers won’t do, hurting others in the process, and justify it by saying we are still a “work in progress”. This is what made Ghandi remark, “I like your Christ but do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” We are God’s workmanship so let us do our best to live as such.