A few years ago, I planned a hiking trip that would take me across 60 miles of mountains, and span several days. I planned this adventure for weeks. On the night before my journey I finished up some minor details and last minute preparations in a hotel near the trailhead. I had to go down to my vehicle and retrieve some gear. Expertly, I made it out of the hotel, and across most of the parking lot. But not so expertly, as I approached my destination in the parking lot, I stepped into a small hole that was invisible to my eyes in the dark. My ankle twisted, I lost balance, and down I went! That moment almost nixed a wonderful trip. Thankfully, I was able to strengthen my near sprain with duct tape, and move on.
Whenever you lose your balance, you will find yourself in a competition with gravity. If your loss of balance goes beyond a certain point, then gravity will likely win that competition. You’ll have to get up and start over again. In fact, your body is in a constant battle with gravity. It makes imperceptible adjustments with various muscles constantly so that you can stand, or sit upright. Most of the time, you aren’t aware of those adjustments in the least. But you do notice them when learning new tasks. For instance, when you first learned to ride a bicycle, you really had to learn the feel of your body on the bike, and adjust it all of the time so that you didn’t fall off. Eventually, from constant trial and error, your body learned the feel of the balance, and how to compensate quickly for any deviations from it.
Your spiritual walk is like that. You are in a constant battle with forces that seem overwhelming to you. They are nonstop — morning, noon and night. You are bombarded with frightening news, deadlines at work, temptations of the flesh, irritations from immature people, agitations from not getting something you think you want, sometimes outright interference from demonic forces, and hundreds of other things bent on messing up your day, or even your life. When you begin to succumb to these things, it is because you are out of balance. You haven’t managed your spiritual priorities. You’ve allowed too many earthly priorities to weight one side of your being, and they begin to tip you toward the ground.
In those instances, heed Ephesians 5:15-17, and look carefully how you walk. Ask yourself, am I walking down a path with pitfalls? Am I carrying a load I shouldn’t? Am I weighted too much on one side? What are my spiritual priorities, and have I given too much importance to earthly things? Then remember to call out to God in the morning, at noon and the evening, and ask for guidance (Psalm 55:17). He’s always there.
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