Balancing Act





Have you ever played Topple? I have, well I have with a 4 and 2 year old so I'm fairly certain we didn't follow the rules very well. From what I gather the point of the game is to stack these little pieces on the "board" so that you aren't the one to cause the board to topple. I couldn't help but think as I played this with my girls that this pretty much sums of life.

We try to balance our already wobbly somewhat unstable lives all while adding more and more items to it just trying to schedule them in a way that will work and not cause every thing to topple. Anyone else feel this way...just me? Surly I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed, over scheduled, over tired, and sometimes just over it.

But why? Why do we feel this way, why are our lives so wobbly, why do we add more and more with the hopes that it won't all fall apart. Well for starters we are all sinners. Yep. Me, you, the person sitting next to you at work/church/school/etc (you know the "perfect has it all together one"), your parents, your kids, all of us. We are born into the sin nature that draws us towards self preservation and self satisfaction which ultimately doesn't preserve or satisfy (funny right?) us for very long.

Let's start with the foundation. In the game Topple the board you are given seems stable enough if you were to sit it on a solid surface but they also supply you with it's base, the foundation if you will. The foundation is a narrow structure that only supports the center of the board which gives the board it's wobbly quality. For the purpose of this game it is genius, for the purpose of life it's idiotic. We are all born with the same board. We each come with a narrow structure on which to place our boards. Looking at the game you can logically tell that the board would be more balance, stronger, more capable of handling a larger load if it was placed on a solid surface but when we look at our own lives we feel that our narrow structure of self is a strong enough foundation.

Our foundation should be sturdy, solid, unwavering. Our foundation should be God. He is rock solid, He has the ability to support us so that we don't fall apart the second a ill placed piece enters into our lives. He created us not to be self sufficient but to be God dependent.

Playing this game with my girls it reminds me of what my life was once like, and in all honesty what it can still be like from time to time, overwhelming, filled with panic about how on earth I'm going to juggle it all. Thankfully my God didn't give up on me. He kept drawing me closer to Him urging me to give up on my self-sufficient foundation and to truly lay my life on His solid rock. It isn't easy to give up control but man oh man is it worth it. With God as my foundation I can look at all the pieces on my board and say "okay God you've placed these in my life for a reason, guide me on how to fit them all in" or "God show me which pieces need to go and which ones need to stay".

So what does your foundation look like? Are you balancing on the narrow structure of self-sufficiency? Are you firmly grounded on His solid ground? Are you unsure? Ask God to show you where your foundation is, ask Him to guide you to how to better trust in His ways and follow Him as He guides you.

Dear Lord,
Your foundation is so much more solid than anything I could provide for myself. Thank You for being strong and true for me. Thank You for grounding me, reminding me that I can't do it on my own. Lord guide me as a schedule my time, show me where I need to be and how I can serve You there. Give me wisdom and discernment to know when to say yes and when to say no to different pieces on my board. In Jesus' name Amen.

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