On Balance, or not

So, I had an interesting train of thought the other day. I was thinking about a spiritual conversation with a friend of mine, and there was a piece of what I had said that didn't sit well with my spirit. We were talking about grace and life. How we are given such freedom to live and yet is there still a requirement on us? We have some role in obeying, or pursuing, or being available, or do we? It was in this context that I said, "We have a responsibility." My thought was that we needed to discover the balance between God's grace and our responsibility. It didn't settle right in my soul, however, and that was what found me sitting down with my journal and asking God about it.

I don't do this very often, but here is an unedited excerpt from my journal.

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March 1, 2011

Galatians 4&5 - Slavery

4:8 - Formerly slaves to those who by nature are not gods. . . weak and miserable principles

5:1 - Freedom - do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (the whole law)

Matt 11:29-30 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. . . rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The yoke of slavery leads to drivenness - the absence of rest because an outside force compels me to action.

Jesus' yoke leads to rest because it is a good fit for me - crafted by a master who loves me and works for my good.

And I get to choose which yoke I wear. Day to day life may appear the same on the outside, at the outset - but flowing out of two very different fountains.

• Looking for the balance between a life of slavery to the law and the life of freedom.

• Looking for balance between drivenness and rest

• Looking for balance between my responsibility and grace.

The trouble with this thinking is that it appears I need equal parts of each to attain "balance" - but the life of slavery, drivenness and thus what I see as "my responsibility" is not just opposite of freedom, rest and grace, they are completely incompatible. It's not balance or knowledge I need, It's Jesus.

Father, open my eyes and heart to your truth in my life, to the structure that is your yoke. I abide in you and submit to the form of the branch. I wait for you - because I'm not sure how to think about my responsibility. Amen

* Jennifer, look at it this way. It's all My responsibility - you are not "responsible" - and I will show you the way to go. Rather than focusing on what you need to do, focus on Me, on My Face, and I will lead you in the way you should go. Amen.

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