Young Adult
Dear God,
I know that You have created me with a purpose and plan. I know it is Your desire that I too have a life filled with joy, purpose and victory. Please help me today to fulfill the destiny You have planned for my life. I know that in order to do this, I must live a life obedient to Your Word, and a life of balance, with my priorities in the proper place and my heart focused on You.
Dear Lord, help me to attain that balance in all areas of my life. Examine my heart, and show me those places where I may be out of balance. Help me to focus on the things that are most important, and keep me from being distracted by the things that would steal my time and attention. Protect me from those things that try to keep me from reaching my goals and achieving the dreams that you have put in my heart.
And most of all, dear God, remind me daily that You have called me to be fruitful, not just busy. Give me the wisdom and strength to produce in abundance that which is most important and constructive in my life and the lives of those around me. Thank you for your constant presence and for helping me to grow and increase in every area of my life.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Finding Balance
There is an old saying in the military that dates back hundreds of years. The saying was given to the infantry division so that they could hold their ground and make the most of opportunities to advance against the opposition. As men would line up to defend their ground, guns in hand, someone would yell, “ready-aim-fire." Sounds simple doesn’t it? It is probably unlikely that anyone ever yelled, “ready-shoot-aim." Unfortunately for many of us, life gets so crazy that we often feel like we don’t have time to steady ourselves to aim and shoot. We are flying by the seat of our pants hoping that as we “fire at life” we will hit the target.
Having balance in our life is something that doesn’t necessarily come easy or natural. We can all admit that life is busy, hectic and stressful. The life of a college student or young adult in particular is one of those seasons of life where things can get overwhelming. Do I study or go out? Do I hang with friends or go to work? Do I decide on a major of just keep pushing the decision away? Do I wait to the last minute or do I start planning ahead? These questions and more are always looming in our life. Finding balance during this season of life is important. So, where do we start? We must start by making our decisions with the end in mind. Making good decisions gets us on the right foundation. If we make decisions without thinking ahead, then we eventually create un-needed chaos in our life (shootaim). This process of decision making moves us into damage control and clean up, and ultimately our life gets off balance and we feel like we can never catch up. However, when we learn to steady our lives (ready-aim-fire) and think about the decision(s) we need to make, we begin to make choices that lead our lives down the path we want to go. As we launch this study on having balance it’s important to evaluate your decision making process. Remember, making better decisions are the starting point for having balance.
We all long for a balanced and happy life. Having balance doesn’t eliminate stress or trials. It simply helps us create a steady, firm, and “balanced” life so that we deal with each day on firm ground.
Having balance in our life is something that doesn’t necessarily come easy or natural. We can all admit that life is busy, hectic and stressful. The life of a college student or young adult in particular is one of those seasons of life where things can get overwhelming. Do I study or go out? Do I hang with friends or go to work? Do I decide on a major of just keep pushing the decision away? Do I wait to the last minute or do I start planning ahead? These questions and more are always looming in our life. Finding balance during this season of life is important. So, where do we start? We must start by making our decisions with the end in mind. Making good decisions gets us on the right foundation. If we make decisions without thinking ahead, then we eventually create un-needed chaos in our life (shootaim). This process of decision making moves us into damage control and clean up, and ultimately our life gets off balance and we feel like we can never catch up. However, when we learn to steady our lives (ready-aim-fire) and think about the decision(s) we need to make, we begin to make choices that lead our lives down the path we want to go. As we launch this study on having balance it’s important to evaluate your decision making process. Remember, making better decisions are the starting point for having balance.
We all long for a balanced and happy life. Having balance doesn’t eliminate stress or trials. It simply helps us create a steady, firm, and “balanced” life so that we deal with each day on firm ground.
Do you consider yourself more of an “aim-shoot” or a “shoot-aim” person? Why?
When you think of having balance in your life what do you most desire?
Do you feel like your decisions mostly help or hurt your ability to have balance?
What’s the most difficult thing about “having balance”?
What are ways that you can begin having balance in your life?
In our faith we have many virtues, and the one that fists most neatly with this conversation is prudence. A person becomes prudent by learning to distinguish what is essential from what is nonessential, to set the right goals and to choose the best means of attaining them. It has also been referred to as "right reason applied to practice". May prudence be your guide as you make decisions and set goals for yourself so that your life may be fruitful and balanced.
Challenge
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• Decision-inventory: Take a personal inventory on how you make a decision (big or small) and how it affects your ability to have balance throughout your week.
• Goal setting: Take some time to set some goals for yourself. For example, what’s your goal spiritually, what’s your goal for you career, what’s your goal for your vocation? Setting these goals will help you line up your decisions to match. • Prayer-priority: Take some time to pray. Ask the Lord to help you prioritize your goals, your decisions, and your time. Spring is an excellent time to get outside for prayer. A lot of us do not take the time to just sit outside and be still. We are so glue to screens, big or little, that God's creation is not appreciated as it should be. My challenge for you is to try and pray outside once a week. This can be as easy as sitting on your deck, or as fun as a drive up to Saylorville Lake for a walk. On your fist trip I invite you to journal, or if that is not your style, think about know you would answer some of the questions posed above. They could even be excellent discussion points with a friend or family member. Blessings ~Liz |
