Simply Balanced Virtual Book Signing & Excerpt from Chapter 2

Welcome! Thank you to those who stop by my virtual book signing this weekend! The title of my book is Simply Balanced: Bible “Contradictions” Teach Balanced Living. In my kickoff post, I’ll start by summarizing the book, listing the six balancing lessons, and providing an excerpt.

Everyone who posts will automatically be added to the drawing for a gift basket door prize, and anyone who provides their email address will be sent a free “tips sheet.” After hearing more and talking with me and other visitors, if you decide you want to buy a book, please use one of the following methods: post it here (and I will email or call you), email me personally at cdowns@crossyourheartpub.com, or order through http://www.CrossYourHeartPub.com. Thank you to anyone who chooses to purchase a book or recommend others, and welcome to all!

God gave me the message in this book because I was not doing so well balancing my life. (I still get overwhelmed at times, but I’m gradually improving, with God’s help.) Now I believe God wants me to help others with the lessons with which He’s been guiding me.

The book explores six sets of Bible lessons that initially seem contradictory. However, Jesus taught that we need both sides of the equation for perfect balance. These “contradictory” lessons actually work together to help us live a balanced life. From contradiction to balance, God’s way. The concept is simple but far from easy! (I can certainly attest to that.)

Following are the six lessons God taught me through Scripture and life experience:
• Don’t Worry… Yet Be Prepared
• Take Action… Yet Rest and Wait on the Lord
• Humble Yourself… Yet Speak Boldly
• Set Childish Ways Aside… Yet Come to Me as a Child
• Judge Not… Yet Discern False Teachers and Restore Others
• Give an Eye for an Eye… Yet Turn the Other Cheek (Old Testament Rules vs. New Testament Grace)

Each of these contradictory lessons is covered in one chapter of the book, where I provide Bible verses and personal anecdotes to explain how the concepts complement one another, leading us closer to living a balanced life. The way God intended.

Learn to live a simply balanced life…

I’ll start with an excerpt from the book about taking action in life, something I have been learning more and more about with every passing year.

Excerpt From the Beginning of Chapter 2: Take Action… Yet Rest and Wait on the Lord

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…’You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest… – Matthew 25:14-28
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…He said to them, “This is what the LORD commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD…’ – Exodus 16:21-23
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…He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you… – Acts 1:7-8
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God tells us to take action in life. In the parable of the talents, the master took the money from the servant who hid it rather than actively growing it. This concept can apply literally to money or to abilities or other blessings God has given us. God will not trust us with more until we follow Him in the little things.
 
Many of Solomon’s Proverbs also deal with action–being hard-working versus being lazy. Here are a few:
- Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. (Proverbs 10:4)
- All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads to only poverty. (Proverbs 14:23)
- The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. (Proverbs 15:19)
- Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest–and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11)

Yet, two Biblical teachings appear to contradict God’s commission to be active:
- Observing a day of rest, or Sabbath (rest for the weary).
- Waiting for God’s time.

How do we take action yet also rest? How do we act yet also wait on God’s timing? Can we do both? Yes, we can. In fact, if balanced properly, all three work together–act when God leads us, rest to recharge and to spend time with the Lord, and wait for God’s commands. And, in everything, trust in the Lord.

2.1 Taking Action
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…’Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Matthew 25:14-28
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In this parable, out of either fear or laziness, maybe both, one servant hides his talents. The other two servants invest their money to gain more. In the same way, we need to use our abilities and blessings to produce fruit that glorifies God and to provide for our families. It is also interesting to note that the master gave each servant a different amount of money in the first place, based on their abilities. God does the same with us, entrusting us with more as we show Him we can handle a little.

We show God we can handle a little by taking action when He calls us to. We need to act if we don’t want to sit around going nowhere. True, we need to trust in the Lord, but we must also have the courage to change what we can. If we don’t do something to change the circumstances in our lives, then we should not wake up one day surprised that nothing has changed and that we’re stuck in the same old rut.

Go out and look, and God will open doors. Don’t just sit around and expect opportunities fall in your lap by magic. There is no magic. God is in everything, even (and especially) in the mundane!

Our Lord is a God of action—He created the world; He created us, and, from the beginning of time, He planned for us to work. Adam and Eve were to take care of the
Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:15) Paul and his followers worked for their needs. (Acts 20:34, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, Hebrews 6:12) Jesus commands us not to become complacent or lukewarm, warning that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from us if we do not produce His fruit. (Matthew 21:43, Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:10)

Further examples abound in Scripture. Numerous proverbs warn against laziness and praise industriousness. Rebeckah was called “industrious” and “hard-working.” (Genesis 24:19-20) Moses’ mother Jochebed took action by putting baby Moses in the river. She did something about her problem and saved her son’s life. God rewarded her by leading the Pharaoh’s daughter to ask Jochebed to care for the child as a nursemaid so that she was able to see her baby every day. (Exodus 2)

As another example, King Solomon put Jeroboam in charge of the house of Joseph after he “saw how well the young man did his work.” (1 Kings 11:28) Jesus even defied tradition by taking action—by performing miracles on the Sabbath day. (Luke 14:1-6, John 7:21-24)

Being lazy or afraid is unacceptable. We must persevere, and we must act. Fear and laziness lead to procrastination, and then we never accomplish the goals put before us by God.

Many business and self-help books advocate action, as well, but not necessarily due to reasons from God. They have the right idea. They are doing the right thing (or at least one right thing), but for the wrong reasons. True, you need to develop a plan with concrete goals. True, you need to work hard. True, you need to be positive. But only if it is God’s plan and God’s work.

Working hard at the wrong goals may bring you financial success or even fame. You may be happy for a time. But you won’t truly be fulfilled. That cannot fully happen until you identify God’s purpose for you and follow His plan.

God’s goals are the right goals. Hard work is commendable, and it is Biblical. Just make sure you are working hard at the right tasks.

2.2 Rest for the Weary
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2.3 Waiting for God’s Time
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2.4 Fruit or Fear? Stopping Short of God’s Goals
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2.5 Action and Prayer: Jesus Displays Perfect Balance
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Examples of Apparent Contradictions for Chapter 2 (contains a list of additional Bible verses that show how “action,” “rest,” and “waiting on God’s timing” complement one another)
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Copyright 2007 Christina M. Downs