Lent 30: On the balance trainer

I’m wrestling with balance. A recent fitness trends is a balance trainer: the athlete stands or exercises on a rounded mound. At first, the body is very shaky, making large adjustments to an unstable surface. Usually a trainer will stand alongside to provide a stable handhold. Gradually, the person learns to refine movements to be stabilize posture and position. The bobbing stops, and equilibrium is achieved.

Life is a constant series of experiences and relationships. The instability of environment, expectations, and reality produces a shaky footing. Unless we have support and a steady anchor, we may sway and even fall. When finances, career goals, relationships, or surroundings are changing, look to the church and personal mentors for stability. God promises balance and peace in times of flux.

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God’s peace to you today

*The people who had moved to Judah from Israel, and the people of Judah themselves, brought in the tithes of their cattle, sheep, and goats and a tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the LORD their God, and they piled them up in great heaps. They began piling them up in late spring, and the heaps continued to grow until early autumn. When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the LORD and his people Israel!
'Where did all this come from?' Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.

And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, 'Since the people began bringing their gifts to the LORD's Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The LORD has blessed his people, and all this is left over.' 2 Chronicles 31:6–10 NLT

*Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Psalm 68:19 NLT

*Thanks to Tillie Porter for the following:
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord m God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. Psalm 86:11-13 NIV

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Teach me Thy way, O Lord, teach me Thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford, teach me Thy way!
Help me to walk aright, more by faith, less by sight;
Lead me with heav’nly light, teach me Thy way!
When I am sad at heart, teach me Thy way!
When earthly joys depart, teach me Thy way!
In hours of loneliness, in times of dire distress,
In failure or success, teach me Thy way!
When doubts and fears arise, teach me Thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies, teach me Thy way!
Shine through the cloud and rain, through sorrow, toil and pain;
Make Thou my pathway plain, teach me Thy way!
Long as my life shall last, teach me Thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast, teach me Thy way!
Until the race is run, until the journey’s done,
Until the crown is won, teach me Thy way!
--Benjamin M. Ramsey, 1919.