Maintaining Balance by Deanna Bommarito

At first glance staying balanced sounds like something most of us do regularly. But do we?

God divided our day into twenty-four hours and He commanded us to take the seventh day off. Seems easy enough, right? Eight hours for sleep. Eight hours for play. Eight hours for work. With the entirety of every Seventh day being set aside for Resting in the Lord, as the Bible tells us in Exodus 35:2a, "Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord" (KJV).

Sleep is the easy one: In the eight hours that we have for sleep, we're supposed to sleep in order to rejuvenate our bodies and minds for the day ahead. In the eight hours that we have set aside for play we're supposed to play or recreate: Read God's love letter to us; Worship; Invest in and enjoy the relationships that God has entrusted us with while we're on the planet; Play a sport or at least be physically active so that we can take care of the temple He gave us to house our souls. And, in those eight hours that we have for work, we're supposed to work at a fulfilling occupation long enough to utilize our talents and enjoy making the money that it takes to feed, clothe and shelter ourselves and our families. Work is not supposed to consume us: it is supposed to sustain us.

The Danger of Focusing Too Much Outside Ourselves

As human beings we have an inherent disposition to focus our attention on something outside of ourselves, but if we focus too much outside of ourselves we cross into an unhealthy place of unbalance. We do this for a variety of reasons: Avoidance, fear, shyness, etc. There are times that the pull to fulfill the world's purpose becomes so prevalent that we give in to the unhealthy pace of the rat race and try to keep up with the seemingly urgent and necessary role of consumers. Instead of communing in nature or reading our Bibles, we become do-ers and take part in the world's ways rather than rest in God's glory and be be-ers. We avoid intimacy and closeness with the people that God gave us to have relationships with and we spin our wheels doing too much trying to fill that hole, that God-sized hole that will never be filled until we start listening to and following His will for our lives.

So time goes by and the needs of the world get filled and God's voice becomes less and less audible, and slowly but surely over time, the opening in the addictive door to the world's ways gets wider until the subtleties of work addiction move into other destructive behaviors such as drug addiction, alcoholism, sex addiction, shop-a-holism, food addiction, etc. The subtlety of the less obvious addictions sneak up and take advantage of our chaotic pace--that pace that pushes God out and let's the world in. These behaviors allow us to focus outside of ourselves and ignore the fact that we have a Father in Heaven who wants us to do something more meaningful with the time and talent that He has given us. The Bible tells us turn away from worldly ways and store up treasures in Heaven where they'll last eternally. Matthew 19:21 tells us, "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come follow me." (KJV)

Christ Based Recovery

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we must encourage one another to find our identities in Him. Once we invite Him into our hearts, we need to refocus on living in the light of truth, not in the denial of addiction, pain and loneliness that we feel while still living the world’s way. It's about perspective and balance. Psalms 62:9 tells us, "Surely men of low degree [are] vanity, [and] men of high degree [are] a lie: to be laid in the balance, they [are] altogether [lighter] than vanity." (King James Version)

Once we find God’s purpose for our lives, we need to fulfill that purpose and be the best servants we can be. This purpose will fill our need to be needed and allow us to be a part of our community as God wants us to be. What will get your attention today, the worldly way of life or God's divine and perfect way?"

For more about finding balance for your life and closing the addictive doors to the world check out Sober Living by the Sea’s Celebrate Recovery track and Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback Church every Friday night in Tent 3 from 7:00 - 9:00.

Peace & God Bless…Deanna Bommarito <><

Deanna Bommarito, BA, CADC-I, BCBC
is a Case/Program Manager at the Rose, Phase II, a Sober Living by the Sea treatment program for women. Deanna earned her BA in Psychology from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA and her Chemical Dependency Counseling Credentials at ICDS (Institute for Chemical Dependency Studies). Deanna has 10 years in recovery and is blessed to be married to her husband, Joe, her favorite person on the planet. Together they are raising three children, ages 14-21 and a Chihuahua, who keep them very busy when they’re not working or serving in ministry. Deanna’s passion is to serve God by serving His children for His glory.