On many occasions we have heard the phrase “Work Life Balance”. In a society where we have innumerable commitments between work (secular or ecclesiastical), housework, children’s activities and marital responsibilities among others… I think we can all agree that for the most part it is practically impossible to maintain a balance between one thing and the other. And you may ask yourself why is this? Well the word balance implies the movement of a body that leans from one side to the other.

On the other hand the word equilibrium; which is one of the implications of the word balance; is the stability of a body subjected to opposite forces. All of these areas; work, home and our spiritual life, act as opposing forces in our lives.

While I was meditating on this, an image of a juggler came to mind who has to hold two things in his hand while the rest are in the air. To be honest I think this is the most accurate description for what we are trying to do.

The best example we can find in the Bible is the Virtuous Woman; This woman was a mother, wife, businesswoman, taking good care of everyone and herself.

“Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar. She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber. She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants. She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.” ‭‭

Proverbs‬ ‭31:10-31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We can comfortably divide the areas of our life into 5 categories:

1. Home: home responsibilities; cleaning the house, cooking, caring for the husband, caring for and educating the children, spending quality time with our loved ones. This takes time …
2. Work: whether secular or ecclesiastical; work is an area of our lives that requires time and dedication.
3. Spirit: Intimate relationship with God. Prayer time, Fasting, and Searching the Scriptures. This also takes time.
4. Events: In this we can include church attendance at services, special events at church in addition to regular services, social events (birthdays, weddings, children’s presentations, funerals, etc.)
5. Personal care: personal hygiene, good nutrition, exercises, rest …

It is not healthy for a person to excessively wrap his or her self in one area of these five, because they will neglect the other areas. If I focus on being an excellent mother and wife by dedicating all my time and resources to my home; I will not be responsible in my work; I will not attend special services and events; I will not have a healthy spiritual life, nor will I have time to take care of myself because my whole life is revolving around my home.

A perfect balance is practically impossible; but we can do what we can to manage our lives effectively. But this involves managing time well.

Next week we will have an article dedicated to efficient time management.