As the cashier greeted me with a smile, I took the bag of hot food at the drive-thru window and handed it to the eager hands in the back seat. I craved life balance and wellness. But, this…this was not it.
It was Monday, so we were in our usual race of trying to arrive, and be ready, for dance class by 4:30 p.m. Leaving the school car line at 3:50 gave so little time to feed a starving student after her almost four-hour fast.
I felt compelled to ask my weekly mantra, “Now remember, is this healthy food or junk food?”
“Junk food!” She responded like a robot, pausing just seconds from shoving fries in her mouth.
The smell of the food had traveled to the front of the van and was nauseating to me. Once again I told myself that I wanted to stop feeding her like this.
My aspirations of life balance and wellness for my family was so hard to achieve with this crazy schedule.
How Christians Find Life Balance – Put Ourselves First?
It was not that long ago that I was working full-time as a registered nurse, educating patients towards wellness.
“You have to make yourself the priority to live in balance,” I would tell them.
But now I remember the pressures, the let downs, the disappointments and the discouragement from patients as they tried to do this, but failed.
They would remind me that their work schedule, their children’s schedule, their budget constraints, and their hundreds of other excuses would get in their way of getting on the road to balance and wellness.
I told them how I could relate. I really could. Then, I started to notice something.
Some patients achieved life balance and wellness in all of their existence.
How Christians Find Life Balance – Use Our Faith?
These patients were able to gain measurable strength from their faith. They lived in a way that was hinged securely on their beliefs, and it helped them to fare better. The patients made changes in their lives and schedules based solely on their faith!
They exhibited joy, had positive attitudes and were better able to cope and do the things they needed to do to find the equilibrium of life and improve their wellness, even when their health remained unchanged.
But amazingly, some even experienced health improvements.
And, more and more I saw the connection between spirituality and the improvement with illness, pain and life stresses.
Medical research supported this too.
But it made me wonder, how do we utilize our faith to find life balance and wellness without adding more stress?
And how do we teach ourselves about this phenomenon in our ‘regular’ lives?
Also, where do we find the right instructions to feed our souls for life balance and wellness? Like many other Christians, we hunger for sustenance but are confused on what is fully satiating.
As a nurse I trust facts. Like many of you, my confidence and actions come through science.
But, we have to learn His truth.
How Christians Find Life Balance – Put Christ First!
Several years of reading scripture and prayer led me to understand that for Christians life balance and wellness are not achieved through our self-focus but by making Christ the first focus.
God’s word tells us that we will find life when Jesus regularly nourishes us. His nourishment is our breath, and it is the key to our life balance and wellness!
Christians, like in the introduction above, miss out on nourishment-God’s nourishment by only eating ‘junk food’! (Ecclesiastes 6:7)
Regular Nourishment of Our Faith in Christ is the Gateway to Life Balance and Wellness.
God’s word teaches us that we need to abandon the ideas of the world to find joy in our lives. Instead, make Christ first, look forward to His promises and refuse the fleshly work of proportionately living out our lives.
How does that sound? I think it would be amazing! And, maybe hard?
That’s ok; we can work together to find balance and wellness in our lives. I find hope knowing that scripture shows God delivers on His promises!
Christians Find Life Balance – Who or what is first in YOUR life right now?
What is the way Christians find life balance? Well, are you placing Christ first in your life? Do you find time to receive nourishment for your faith regularly from Jesus? Are you experiencing life balance and are you well?
I wasn’t either, but, let me tell you, you can do this. You can do it because you were created to do just that!
In fact, we all were!
What would it look like if all of us put Jesus first? What if all of us experienced life balance and wellness? Well, it would be pretty amazing for sure. Specifically, more of us would see and experience:
- The acknowledgment that our bodies are spiritual temples. More of us would have a sincere desire to honor God with our bodies, and thrive while doing so.
- Embrace the guidance of (and stop ignoring) the Holy Spirit.
- Being led closer to wellness no matter our state of health.
- Doing more to contribute to Kingdom growth.
So, let’s talk about you.
As I close today, I hope you walk away with the understanding that life balance and wellness does not come from putting ourselves first. This equilibrium occurs only by putting Christ as the very first in our lives. We learn in God’s word that faith in Jesus is the gateway to life balance, wellness, and joy. We find all of that when we put Jesus first.
Take a minute, now, and ask God, “What is the ONE THING I need to do, today, to put Christ first in my life, so I can begin to find life balance and wellness?”
If you feel like you need a little more help finding the confidence to start taking better care of yourself, my free mini-course can help you learn about using God’s faithfulness and give you some simple, beginner tips.
Be sure to grab your FREE Self-care Starter Guide! Lisa Kimrey is a 33-year veteran registered nurse (RN), speaker, and author of the Bible study, The Self-care Impact: Motivation and Inspiration for Wellness. At Mylifenurse, Lisa combines her nursing expertise with Scripture-based encouragement to show readers who serve and care for others how to begin and maintain their self-care journey – without feeling guilty or overwhelmed – to feel happy, healthy, and rejuvenated.
Great post! I started my day in study, which ALWAYS makes for a better (more nourishing) day! I’m still a very selfish human – working on putting Christ first one decision at a time! Thanks for the reminder. 🙂