There is a lot of talk in the Christian world today about balance. Everyone wants balance in their lives.
“Protect your time.” “Be careful not to burn out.” It’s important, supposedly, to guard your commitments and have boundaries so you can stay healthy.
Balance. Protect. Careful. Burn out. Guard. Boundaries. Health.
Do these terms sound familiar to you?
It’s easy to buy into these buzzwords because they seem good. Who wants to burn out and be unhealthy?
There’s only one problem. I don’t see a lot of these words in the Scriptures.
Satan loves to sow his lies inside kernels of truth. He’s crafty at making the Christian promise of life sound easy. But these terms aren’t it. Most of this is self-help psychology marketed as the means to achieve Christian peace and rest.
That’s not how the Christian life works.
The Paradox of the Christian Life
The paradox of the Christian faith is you have to make war in order to have peace.
Look at how Scripture describes the Christian life:
- Put on the full armor of God (Eph 6:11)
- Fight the good fight, keeping faith and a good conscience (1 Tim 1:18-19, 6:12)
- The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds (2 Cor 10:4).
- Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:3)
Christianity is a fight. It’s a daily war. The Christian is a soldier doing battle against the world (Rom 12:2), the flesh (1 Cor 9:27), and the devil (1 Peter 5:8).
Do you see yourself as a soldier? Do you wake up ready for war?
It’s easy in our comfortable culture to brush that language off as overkill, but the worst mistake you can make is to underestimate your enemy. God Himself gives us this language of warfare in Scripture as a warning.
Satan tempts you to coast–to seek balance. God through His Word prepares you for war.
How to fight for faith
Am I saying you can’t ever feel tired or need a break? No. Am I saying seeking health is wrong? Of course not.
I’m saying be careful where you seek solutions.
Balance and health (or biblically speaking peace and rest) is found in faith.
If you labor and try to live the Christian life in your own flesh, no amount of “balance” in your schedule is going to work. You’ll always feel drained and exhausted. The solution isn’t found in a protected free weekend. It’s found in fighting for faith in Christ. That’s why Paul calls it the “fight of faith.”
To get the peace and rest you are looking for, you have to fight for faith with the spiritual weapons God provides:
1. Fight to fill your mind with the Scriptures over worldly comforts
God’s Word is what equips you for every good work! God has given His Word as nourishment to your soul. Commit to learning how to rightly handle the word of truth.
The world will try to sell you comfort through mindless media. How will you put off that distraction and put on more of the Scriptures?
If the allure of a screen draws you in more than the words of Scripture, there is no way your soul will be fueled for this kind of fight.
2. Fight to focus on the presence of Jesus over selfish privileges.
Your flesh wants ease and convenience. It’s about you.
Lou Holts, legendary Hall of Fame football coach at Notre Dame said this,
“The difference between football players today and those 50 years ago is simple. Today’s athletes talk about rights and privileges and the players 50 years ago talked about obligations and responsibilities.”
Which fills your mind more — your rights and privileges or your obligations and responsibilities? If you have been claiming rights, take some time to name them, confess them, and forsake them. Remember you died to yourself!
You can’t fight for faith and privileges at the same time.
You might just need a reminder that it’s going to be a struggle. That doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Christ has promised you His presence in it (Matt 28:20) so don’t grow weary in doing good! (Gal 6:9).
You have to “set your minds on things that are above and not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:2). Christ, who is your life (Col 3:4) is coming soon! Don’t seek the comforts of heaven in this life. Your privileges and full inheritance await in eternity. For now, it’s time to fight and finish the task Jesus gave you with great effort.
3. Fight alongside fellow soldiers instead of alone
You can’t win this battle in isolation.
Christ has provided you help, in godly fellowship.
I’m always inspired talking to an older, godly laborer who clearly isn’t concerned about balance, money, better living arrangements, or earthly comforts. When I can tell they are focused wholeheartedly on the mission, it focuses me.
Hebrews 11 does this. It points us to the saints before us and how they lived by faith.
Who are the fellow soldiers of Christ in your life right now and throughout history who motivate you and spur you on in discipline? How can you adopt more of their wartime mentality?
Put it into Practice:
Don’t buy into the self-help, psychology terms of the day. You don’t need them. Maybe you’ve talked too much about balance and rest lately and not enough about suffering and fighting. Add those biblical words to your vocabulary and live by faith!
Spend some time praying and asking God to help you fight for faith with the spiritual weapons He provides–His Word, His presence, and fellow soldiers.
Put on the full armor of God, not just some of it. Do that and you can never burn out. God has equipped you with everything you need to fight this good fight and fight it well!
