Balance

“He told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him because of the crowd, so they would not crush Him.” Mark 3:9

Jesus seems to be escaping from the crowds of people who were following him from Jerusalem, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, even from Tyre and Sidon, from the north and south of Israel. Shouldn’t He be helping everyone He can, healing and preaching from sun up to sun down, until “it hurts”? Apparently not. Jesus sets limits. He takes time to pray, to connect with His Father, He takes time to sleep and rest and even attend parties. How does He decide how far He should go, how deep His commitment, how much energy to expend? 

Jesus does not let the “crowds” decide for Him. He does not let the demands of a to-do list determine His path. He obeys His Father, and prioritizes the mission the Father has given Him.  It would be ideal if we could hear the Father say, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

I have just started reading Sue Monk Kidd’s first book, “God’s Joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved”. In it, she described her stress filled life as she tried to be “perfect as Your heavenly Father is perfect”, not knowing that ‘perfect’ in this verse meant ‘whole’. (Matthew 5:8) The 29 year old Sue was a mom with two children, and she had an image of herself as “super mom, superwife, successful career woman, church pillar, community helper and fulfilled person”. She tried to do it all, role overloaded and role conflicted and still guilt ridden, until she felt searing pains in her chest that wouldn’t go away. As I have not reached even half way of her book, I can’t tell how it ends, except that based on the title, and the fact that she has written several books since, I can say she survived, and she was able to accept that she was loved by our Father, just as she is, imperfections and all.  

We need balance in our life, and listening to our Father will give us that. Like Jesus, we need to get close to God, in order to listen and hear God’s voice, and not get “crushed” by the world’s urgent demands!