Daily Devotional For Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Well, it is terrific Tuesday, have you noticed that even the routine can become mundane? For most people, their days are not only predictable but repetitious. They get up and go to work or school. They typically drive the same way on the same route and at about the same speed. When they get to work or school, their schedule is already laid out for them. Please do not misunderstand me here. I am not implying this is wrong but that it can cause us to get in a routine that looks like we are stuck or trapped. When this happens, boredom and apathy can affect us. If we were to diagnose this in medical terms, we would say we have been infected by the virus called rut.

The word “rut” is French, from “rugitus, or regime” which means “to roar.” The dictionary has three basic definitions of a rut. “First, a rut is a long, deep track made by the repeated passage of wheels or vehicles. Second, an annual period of sexual activity in deer and some other mammals, during with the males right each other for access to the females. And third, a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change” (Source: Google Dictionary).

And when we get into a rut, there are times we want to roar due to the boredom and predictability. When we get int a rut we can feel that something is missing in our lives, that something is our of sync or out of balance. The danger of that is we can then swing to the opposite direction and start filling our lives up with activity to stay busy and not bored. Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited” (NASB). The Hebrew word translated as “distress or adversity” is [צָרָ֗ה, tzrah]. 

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writing on this, says this:

“The term rendered “distress” is a word picture describing confinement or constriction, a place too small to inhabit comfortably. The expression “between a rock and a hard place” is fitting. This proverb counsels against our “becoming slack” or, more precisely, “idle, disheartened, dropped down, slumped.” If we do, we sacrifice strength that would normally help us escape. In other words, when we give in to our fears, we allow what we fear to become reality. And, according to Proverbs 24:5, “A wise man is strong; and a man of knowledge increases power.” To put it bluntly, giving up is stupid!” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Living The Proverbs: Insight For The Daily Grind, Kindle Edition, pp. 172-173).

Have you ever felt your schedule or job or routine was cramping you? Squeezing you into a mold until you were almost suffocating? When this happens, be alert. You might be prone to go about dealing with this squeeze or imbalance in the wrong way. For example, every January, gym memberships soar. Why? People are concerned about their health and weight. Look at what Bloomberg says about this:

In a survey conducted by NPR and The Marist Poll in November and December, 44% of 1,075 American adults said they were likely to make a New Year’s resolution. Among them, 13% set out to exercise more, making it the most common resolution. Related ambitions to lose weight and eat better ranked third and fourth, respectively. Together, they’re goals for almost a third of all resolution makers . . . One analysis from Strava, for example, estimates that Americans are most likely to give up on this resolution as early as mid-January” (Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-16/here-s-how-quickly-people-ditch-weight-loss-resolutions).

Dieters do not do as well either. It takes hard work and discipline to create new habits and disciplines. Studies have shown that for most people, desire is not enough. There has to be something more pressing such as the criticalness of one being alive at the end of that new year. 

“Some women can become so concerned about their weight that they swing to the opposite and create an imbalance in their life with eating disorders and anorexia. This causes other major health issues in their lives such as: thinning of the bones (osteopenia or osteoporosis) mild anemia, muscle wasting and weakness, brittle hair and nails, dry and yellowish skin, low blood pressures, damage to their heart, infertility and female hormones shutting down, multiple organ failure and even brain damage” (Source: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders).

Men on the other hand can swing to an imbalance as well. Some men will go to the extreme as well by injecting themselves with risky muscle-building anabolic steroids. 

“This is a growing concern today with teenage boys who suffer from what is called “body dysmorphic disorder” —a mental health condition where a boy spends a lot of time worrying about the flaws in their appearance, though typically unnoticeable by others. They will get these anabolic steroids because they do not believe they are big enough nor strong enough. It becomes a dangerous drug habit. In males, the physical effects are: reduced sperm count, infertility, shrunken testicles, hair loss, breast development, risk of early prostate cancer, sever acne, erectile dysfunction, heart attack, stroke, blood clots, kidney failure, high cholesterol, stomach pain, aggressive behavior, mood swings, paranoia, manic behavior and even hallucinations and delusions” (Source: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anabolic-steroid-misuse/).

What we need is balance. Our culture is obsessed with youth. Celebrities, who have money, go get nipped, tucked, and liposuctioned. Any time we get out of balance, it creates dis-ease in our lives. Dis-ease leads to diseases. Currently, the liposuction industry is now a $4.8 billion industry just in the United States alone. Chuck Swindoll, writing on this, says this:

“In the same way, I’ve seen Christians take spiritual disciplines to such extremes that they all but withdrew from normal public life. They take Paul’s admonition to “pray without ceasing” literally and spend hours in private meditation and accomplish very little else. They study Scripture so long and so deeply that they have little opportunity to live out what they have learned. They attend every church service, participate in every church program, and never miss a single church event—and their children feel ignored and their marriage partner is neglected. Again, good things can become bad when we fail to find an appropriate balance. 

I see imbalance and extremes all around me, and sometimes—to my own embarrassment—in myself. A major prayer of mine as I grow older is “Lord, keep me balanced!” 

• • We need a balance between work and play. Too much of either is unhealthy and distasteful. 
  • We need a balance between time alone and time with others. Too much of either takes a personal toll. 
  • We need a balance between independence and dependence. Too much of either one leads to bizarre behavior and even mental disorders. 
  • We need a balance between kindness and firmness, between waiting and praying, between working and obeying, between saving and spending, between taking in and giving out, between wanting too much and expecting too little, between gracious acceptance and keen discernment” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Living The Proverbs: Insight For The Daily Grind, Kindle Edition, pp. 171-172).

Solomon wrote these words in Proverbs 30:7-9:

“Two things I ask of You; deny them not to me before I die: (8) Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, (9) lest I be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (ESV).

Solomon prayed that God will help him maintain balance in his life. This is the point of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: (2) a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; (3) a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; (4) a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; (5) a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; (6) a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; (7) a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; (8)  a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (ESV).

Questions To Consider

1. Is your life balanced in every area? Why or why not?
2. For those areas that not in balance, what do you think is necessary to bring balance to them?
3. In the past, have you ever gone to the extreme in an attempt to counter balance something being out of balance in your life? If you have, what was it, what were the results and what lessons did God teach you?
4. If you have several areas of your life out of balance, which ones do you think God wants you to bring balance to first and how?
5. Take a moment to reflect. When it comes to your daily devotional life with God, is it balanced? This does not include church attendance or going to a Bible study group. If this is out of balance, what would Jesus Christ want you to do to bring balance to it as His disciple?

Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 11:1, “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I do not want to be an abomination to You. Lord, when You were here, I know You understand the pressures of life. The Gospels tell how even You had to get away from the crowds, even Your own disciples, to rest and replenish Your strength and relationship to the Father. You were intentional about maintaining balance in Your life so that Your life brought God glory. I don’t want to go to an extreme as a counter-balance. I want balance. Please, use Your Holy Spirit to give me wisdom as James says James 1:5. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside, Pastor Kelly