DAILY DEVOTIONAL – March 4, 2021
“Jugglin’ or Strugglin’?”
Prayer: Our merciful God, we thank you for this new day of grace and mercy that we have to live out for You. As Your Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, help us to do “all things for the glory of God.” In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.
Scripture: Colossians 1:15-17
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Devotion – “Jugglin’ or Strugglin’?”
I have always been amazed at the physical dexterity and coordination that some people have. When I was a young boy going through middle school, skateboarding was all the craze. It was back in the day when the famous X-Game skater Tony Hawk was just beginning to grow in international popularity…before the first official X-Games competition ever took place.
After school there would just be a swarm of kids skateboarding home, using every curb and surface they could to perform their tricks. I gave up on skateboarding pretty quickly…I have never been very good at those kinds of things.
Two other talents of great coordination that I don’t have but that I have always been impressed with are juggling and the Rubik’s cube. Watching someone juggle flaming bowling pins or solving a Rubik’s cube in seconds are both now huge in popularity; with jugglers and Rubik’s cube wielding magicians making it into the finals of huge international televised competitions like America’s Got Talent. I thought I had seen all you could do with juggling and Rubik’s cubes, that is, until I came across a video of Sir Ravi the Juggler.
Never mind juggling OR Rubik’s cubing, Ravi does both at the same time! While juggling several balls in the air, Ravi throws a Rubik’s cube into the mix…and every time the Rubik’s cube passes through his hands while he juggles, he solves the Rubik’s cube with one hand, one juggle at a time. Ravi’s talents were so impressive ABC news did a segment on him some time ago.
My guess is that like me, most of you will never be able to solve and juggle Rubik’s cubes at the same time…but we still juggle everyday don’t we? Maybe not Rubik’s cubes or flaming blowing pins…but we juggle the long litany of responsibilities, commitments, projects, opportunities, all the things we aspire to do and accomplish…and somewhere in there we fit our life of faith and discipleship.
Life, at times, can be just like juggling a Rubik’s cube. Trying to successfully manage everything is hard enough, not to mention the times where we wish life was as easy as solving a Rubik’s cube.
We would probably be surprised if we ever took the time to really lay out and honestly evaluate all of the balls and plates and Rubik’s cubes we try to keep up in the air each week. Out of all that we try and manage, which things are really necessary for what we need? Which things are really necessary and most beneficial and healthy for us and our loved ones? How many of the flaming bowling pins we juggle are only threatening to cause burnout? In a recent planning meeting had here at the church we had a guest speaker who said something I had heard several times before, but that I was thankful to hear again. He said, “You never say yes to one thing, without saying no to something else…you just don’t yet know what that something else is that you have said no to by saying yes to the other.”
Too many times it’s our relationship with Jesus that ends up getting told no. We certainly never say no intentionally, but every ball or bowling pin or spinning plate we add into the mix, takes up precious time and energy and attention.
I don’t know about you, but I find it so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if I stop juggling even for just a little bit…or if I try and juggle less…everything would just come unraveled at once. I have learned that is usually the first sign that I am either juggling too many things or the wrong things.
Ensuring we find the time to rest and take a break is not only good and actually helps with being productive, but resting is a necessary part of our spiritual health…resting is built into us. On the sixth day of creation, God made man and commanded them to subdue the earth. Scripture says that after God gave that command, there was evening and morning to close the sixth day. Adam and Eve had a huge world to now explore and subdue. It was time to sleep. So bright and early on the 7th Day of creation, I am sure Adam and Eve were excited and ready to go, but before they did anything else, God instituted the very first Sabbath day of rest. Before they did anything else, before they could do anything else faithfully, God called them to take rest and find satisfaction first in everything that He had done.
It’s the same for you and I today friends. Only once we have first taken the time to find rest and take rest in all that God has already done and accomplished for us, only then are we able to faithfully and successfully be truly productive in the good and many things God has planned for us to do. Each day, like the first Sabbath day, should start with taking rest and hope and comfort in the fact that God has already accomplished the most important thing of all…our salvation through the blood of His Son Jesus. Seeing everything else in life through the finished work of Christ on the cross is our only hope of finding and keeping balance.
As it says in verse 17 of our text from Colossians today, “all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” The God who holds the universe itself together is also the Lord who said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
So before you attack the to do list my friends, remember, the most important task…the task we could never complete on our own…has been completed…it is finished. Our salvation is complete in the blood of Christ. Let us bring all of our priorities and tasks and responsibilities to Him who holds all things together in grace and mercy.
Enjoy the day my friends – and remember – that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today, and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
