Getting bthe Balance Right

I'm a fan of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. In the 'Pirates of Penzance' there is a chorus: "A paradox, a paradox, A most ingenious paradox. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, That paradox."

I sometimes think that on first sight the Christian life can appear to be full of paradox's, with conflicting instructions between two extremes. For example, in the Bible we are told that salvation is a free gift, but it costs everything we have: that walking with God is effortless, but it takes effort: that we don't have to compete, but we need to run the race to win!

Of course the Bible is not a set of rules - we have been freed from all that - but it's about a love relationship with Jesus. We find the balance as we follow Him and allow Him into our lives.

Even as a Christian, I tended to swing between two extremes. There were often crises and difficulties at work which could be scary and stressful. However, as I faced the problems and the adrenalin flowed, I found it stimulating and fulfilling. In a way I didn't want to stop, so took this pattern into my private life. And then, as I tried to relax I would swing the other way and even become lethargic. There seemed to be little in between full pelt and stop.

I have discovered something about adrenalin. It boosts your energy, but it also releases a stress hormone that eventually can have a suppressive effect on the immune system. Now you just cannot live on adrenalin for too long before you get stressed out and you become ill. That's what happened to me.

My life was out of balance and I was forced to take stock and spend more time just abiding in Jesus and feeding on that love relationship.

Now, I try to flow with Him rather than do things in my strength and cause stress. I am mindful of two things. First, that God's energy and power are His, not mine - obvious, but very important - and secondly, when God's power works through us, it is effortless. When things are moving in our life in the right balance we are at rest - and that's another paradox!

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life -" John 5:39-40 New International Version