Proverbs 16:11 is a verse I’ve read many times over the years. A similar verse appears in Proverbs 11: “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord but an accurate weight is his delight.”
Proverbs repeats itself and contains slight variations on many of the adages. I’m convinced the book is better read one maxim at a time rather than in chapters. Because, honestly, I’ve always heard these verses as saying the same thing—that Christians, and the Jewish people to whom these Scriptures belonged first, should be honest in our business transactions. This pleases God.
Balance
But this time . . . Proverbs 16:11 hit in a new way
Balance is my word for this season. There’s a lot going on in my life and each area needs time and focus—personal relationships, personal health and well-being, vocational responsibilities, and continuing education choices. Any one of those areas could fill my time and absorb all my energy.
Anybody else feel that way? That every area of your life needs 100% and you can’t figure out how to give each one what it needs and demands? There’s not enough energy, not enough time in the day.
To focus on ONE of them would be to neglect the others. The challenge in life is to find balance.
So back to Proverbs 16:11.
Weights measure things. When the amount of weight placed on one end balances the scale, we know the measured weight of the items in the other end.
My life doesn’t feel like a simple scale. It feels like a spinning plate exhibition.
Maybe you feel that way, too.
But today Proverbs 16:11 stopped me. God stilled all the plates. He took them off the sticks and stacked them neatly and unbroken at the end of the table.
Then he took out his set of scales and bag of weights. With great gentleness and a warm smile, he said to me, “We can do this. We can choose which needs the focus most and how much energy may be given to each at any given moment.”
WE
We. Did you hear that word? It’s a marvelous word! WE can do this. WE can choose.
The amazing, miraculous, wonderful thing about being a follower of Christ is that none of us must go this life alone. We get a WE.
We get the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we get a family of other believers stumbling, crawling, staggering, or sprinting through life facing many of the same challenges we face (and others we can’t imagine). We are a WE and we are not alone.
- The endless, boundless, never-ending, agape love of God.
- The magnificent, mind-boggling, virtually incomprehensible grace of Jesus Christ.
- The fellowship, leadership, mentoring, coaching, and collaboration of the Holy Spirit.
No Skewed Scales
God’s scales are honest. He doesn’t have his food on one end, skewing them. He isn’t cheating us—either to make us feel better about how we’re doing or worse.
Some of the areas of our life will demand more than they should. Friends may complain you don’t value them when you go back to school. They may accuse you of thinking you’re better than them. Partners may grouse when you choose healthier habits. Work may grumble when you establish boundaries around effort, work load, and time off.
The world’s scales not always honest. The world will place its foot in the scale—demanding more of us, telling us we’re not giving enough and should be ashamed.
The time an area demands may not be the time the area needs or deserves.
God helps us take an honest look at the need in front of us.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Romans 8:1-2 NRSV
The Romans verse above affirms that God doesn’t condemn our efforts. We don’t have to live under constant pressure and stress of not doing enough, of not doing it good enough, of being responsible for everything, especially anything that doesn’t turn out 100% perfectly.
God’s Bag of Weights
Not only does God bring his own scales to this meeting, he brings his own weights.
I imagine these weights are stamped with words like Peace, Worth, Truth, Grace . . .
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
John 14:27 NRSV
“Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you . . . ”
Isaiah 43:4a NRSV
God doesn’t measure the same way the world measures.
The world demands we produce, even if it means working to exhaustion. God says we are to rest in a regular rhythm called sabbath.
The world says our worth is determined by what we produce or the skills we possess or the power we wield. God says that we are each created in God’s own image. We have been given the breath of life, divine breath animating us. We were created because God wanted to have a relationship with us, and we are redeemed, delivered, bought back, freed from sin and death by Jesus. Our worth is determined by our Maker. We are inherently worthy! Before we do the first thing or produce the first item.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
Isaiah 55:8 NRSV
“So then, from this point on we won’t recognize people by human standards.”
2 Corinthians 5:16a CEB
Finding Our Balance
Proverb’s 16:11 reminds me—and you—to use the honest and truthful weights and grace-filled scale of God.
In collaboration with the Holy Spirit, we can give each area what it must have, and be released from guilt and condemnation when we do not give an area what it demands.
And the ongoing nature of our relationship with God will help us adjust and adapt, and manage it all better as we go.
Let’s go find our balance.