Posts Tagged "God’s presence"

Life Balance by the Grace of God

Posted by Pat Stewart on Mar 28, 2014 in My Blog, Think About This | 0 comments

Balancing life in today’s world is challenging to say the least.  We have our “compartments” of being all wrapped up in one existence…Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social and Spiritual.  I can remember in a philosophy class in college debating the most important of these “compartments.”  Most of us accepted that, for our existence here on earth, Physical ranked pretty high on the list of priorities,  for if we did not feed and water ourselves, we simply would not continue to live here on earth.  Sustenance and nurture seem to be quite basic.  But there are more ways to nurture ourselves than with just food.  Indeed, our Mental and Emotional health depend greatly on nurture.  So, in this class of philosophy, we were led to determine that the need for nurture truly applied to all five of these “compartments” of earthly life.  Once we got to that acceptance, that is where the true debate revealed its complexity. Some in our class debated whether the Spiritual “compartment” should even be considered as a major part of our human lives.  These students had no awareness of a relationship with God, our Creator.  I recall, upon that realization, being surprised that a person could go through 20 or so years of life without this awareness and experience.  That, in itself, was a huge thing to consider! We’ve all known or encountered many, many people in whom we could see that a certain “compartment” of their lives was out of the realm of nurture.  People, who for various reasons, have physical, emotional, mental, social and, yes, spiritual issues or deficiencies.  Living in community, we work together to assist those who have certain needs and improve life for all through charitable means such as supporting  food pantries, homeless centers, support groups, treatment clinics and churches and synagogues. I am one who places nurturing of the Spiritual “compartment” as a very high priority and I believe that the health of my spiritual life directly impacts all the other “compartments” of my existence on earth.  One difference between this “compartment” and all the others is that the nurturing of my spiritual life extends and benefits me also throughout eternity.  For that reason, for me, the Spiritual “compartment” is #1. How awesome is our God,  for the nurturing of my soul does not just depend on me, though I certainly have a very active role.  God is constantly seeking me out and blessing me with His love, guidance, and strength even when I have moved on to something that does not even have me thinking of Him.  How Gracious is our God! In Matthew 18:20 Christ shares “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”  As followers of Christ, we have that blessed assurance that He is there with us.  How precious that is, especially as we turn to one another in times of great trials and sorrow knowing that He is with us as we pray and comfort one another. Glory,...