Finding Balance in a Busy World

Today we're tackling a topic that I know so many of us wrestle with, and that is finding balance in a busy world. Conversations with women sound pretty much the same. When asked how our weekend was or how our week was, it's typically a response that sounds like, was good, but it was busy. But since when did being busy become something to brag about? If you're feeling stretched thin,

trying to balance it all, caring for yourself, your family, your work, and everything else on your plate, then this episode is for you. I'm going to share four tips to winning as a woman by achieving balance in our so busy world. Grab your coffee. Actually, no, because a lot of you are giving that up for this new year, new me. So just grab some water. Let's go ahead and get right to it. Do you ever look at your life and think, how did we get here?

How did I get here? How did this pace become my norm? I remember when I started feeling the tug on my heart that I needed to desperately slow down. And I was looking for women who lived a balanced life that I could model. Because in that season, our ministry was growing, our family was growing. And even though I'm a patient person, my patience was growing very thin, especially to those that I love because I was just tired. We were thriving, but I was tired.

See, living a balanced life wasn't modeled for me growing up and I still really couldn't find women, especially in ministry, who lived this life. But I finally found someone who set a good example, a good model that I could follow. And it wasn't a woman. It was in a book I had been reading, but missed an important attribute this whole time. See, we talk a lot about the words of Jesus, but today I want to reflect on something we don't often discuss.

And that's the pace of Jesus. And the first tip that we can learn from his example to find balance is to reevaluate your priorities. See, Jesus wasn't in hurry. He had one priority and that was his mission. Speaking of the word priority, did you know that the word priority didn't have a plural until the 21st century? The word originally meant the first thing. You can't have 21st things.

But in today's world, we're pressured to juggle so many priorities. And it's no wonder that we feel so overwhelmed because we were never supposed to have multiple priorities. So for the sake of this conversation, I will use priorities so that we can talk about how to reevaluate your priorities. But remember as winning women, you only need to have one priority and make the main thing, the main thing before you can reevaluate your priorities.

You have to categorize your priorities by importance. Here's how I think of it. There are fixed priorities and there's flexible priorities. Fixed priorities are non-negotiable. These are rooted in God's design. For me, that means God first and then family, ministry, and work, whether that's inside or outside the home. Flexible priorities are still important, but those can be shifted as needed.

See, in an unhealthy season of my life, my priorities were completely out of order. I was putting work and the approval of others, even people on social media, ahead of my family, which is a fixed priority. For example, I'd be more focused on posting about a family dinner than actually engaging with my family. Now, I've made changes. I've made some drastic changes, and I now capture moments, but I'll post it later. That way, my family sees me

present and not glued to my phone. That's an example of keeping the main thing the main thing. My family is a priority, then they deserve my attention first, not the world. So what does this look like in your life? I think a godly order for fixed priorities should be God first, and then everything else follows after that. If you have a family, if you have ministry, if you work, anything else can still be a priority, but that will go into the flexible priorities.

Now, flexible priorities are still important, but those can be shifted, and they should be shifted as needed. For you, it could be that new hobby that you picked up. For me, it's tennis. Anyone that knows me knows that I absolutely love tennis. I never grew up playing it, but I picked up the game of tennis when my daughter was about maybe six months old because I needed something to get me out of the house and socialize with adults.

I was working and we were still going our ministry, but this was my recreational sport that I had. And it became a priority because it became a big part of me actually staying active and staying healthy. But as much as I like to play tennis and as much as you may like to play that sport or that hobby that you just love so much, it should not come before your other fixed priorities. This is what I did wrong the first time when I was working. I made work a priority and I never supplemented to make sure that my family

had the support to cover the gaps when I wasn't available. So what does reevaluating your priorities look like in this season? Is your to-do list too long? Are you giving attention to the wrong things? Once again, Jesus modeled this so well. He was centrally focused on his mission. He was clear about what he was called to do. He knew who to make a priority and when, even if it was not someone who

people made a priority, like the story of the Samaritan woman. So as winning women striving to win God's way, take time to reflect and align your priorities with what truly matters. So the next tip in finding balance in our very busy world is the importance of rhythm over rules. See, balance isn't about achieving a perfect state. It's actually about making intentional decisions every day that lead to healthy rhythms and those rhythms create a balanced life.

Going back to the biblical days, were a lot of rules and traditions set by their religious leaders. But Jesus cared more about people's hearts, not just their actions. See, small habits make a big impact. And I'm sure that you have a lot of rules that you have set for yourself. Whether that is go to the gym, read your Bible, eat organic foods. While all those are great rules, the rhythms you establish is actually more important than that rule. See, going to the gym,

is the rule, yes, but the rhythm is stewarding your body. That's biblical. Reading your Bible? You could say that's a rule if you've said that for yourself, but the rhythm is spending time with God. Eating healthy? The rhythm is that your body is a temple and we are supposed to steward it well. All those rhythms are biblical. See, for me, creating rhythms has been key. One of my rhythms is starting and ending my day with prayer and devotional time.

In the morning, I do a short devotional with my kids before school, and at night we pray together as a family. It's not about following a strict rule, but it's about building habits that center us and our family on God. So what small habits can you create healthy rhythms around to bring balance to your daily life? Another tip that I want to share about living or finding balance in our world is releasing good works that aren't God's work.

See, if the disciples had to leave behind certain obligations to follow Jesus fully, then we may need to let go of activities that might be good, but distract us from God's best. As winning women, you may have to release obligations in your life. So often we take up so much in the name of good, and we lose hold of what God actually wants us to be holding onto or working on.

A lot of the stuff that we hold onto that keeps us busy are worldly things. Scripture says, do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, but store up for yourself treasures in heaven. That's from Matthew 6, 19 through 20. Pretty much that verse is encouraging us that our treasures are not on this world. Our treasures are in heaven. And that's what our focus should be. That's what our priority should be. So scrolling on social media might feel productive or busy.

But serving others, mentoring someone brings value. Busy doesn't equal productivity and purposeful life is about aligning our actions with God's will. So what obligations in your life might be good, but aren't your God given purpose? Just take some time to think about that. And as you do the fourth and final tip that I want to share about finding balance in a busy world is there is absolutely no way that we can achieve balance if we

Don't spend time with God. If we don't start our day with God. Going back to Jesus modeling this well is that Jesus often withdrew to pray and connect with the Father. This was where He found renewal and strength. And we need the same connection to recharge and refocus. So I'll be honest, when I wake up in the morning and I try to spend time by immediately reading my Bible in the bed, I sometimes fall back asleep. Don't judge me, but it's true.

Or sometimes I'd rather cuddle with Alan than wake up and just go straight to reading my Bible. And as a married woman, I don't think that's a bad thing, but see, both are important. I think it's important to spend time with my husband in the morning and it's important to spend time with God. So I have found what works for me in this season and that is to spend time with God actually getting out of the bed, like physically getting out of the bed. And I actually listened to my daily audio Bible while I work out, like while I'm on the treadmill.

And if there's an opportunity for me to go deep, then once I get done working out, I'll pull out my Bible and I'll go deep. See, that's a rhythm that I've established that keeps me grounded. It gives me the opportunity to spend time, to start my day with God. And that way throughout my day, I'm able to cast my cares onto him. I'm able to give him my burdens because he will carry it. I'm able to rest in him. Why? Because I started off my day with him. So ladies, as we close,

I know that maintaining balance is a challenge. Whether you're a woman working outside of the home, you could be a mom at home that's caring for your children, or possibly adding the responsibilities of working in a business from home. You may be an empty nester that's transitioning from raising your children to a new season of life. Whatever season you're in, juggling to meet the needs of family, household, work, and self-care significantly impacts your level of peace,

Joy and fulfillment.

So remember, balance isn't about doing it all. It's about focusing on what truly matters. A well-balanced woman uses her God-given gifts to bring love and hope and glory to God. She focuses on healthy biblical rhythms versus the rules of the world. She serves her family with love and patience, making her husband and children a priority. She is wise enough to know that she could not do any of this without spending time at the feet of Jesus.

She is aware that her prayer time is crucial for spreading joy and being a light in a dark world. And a balanced woman knows her worth and knows that her worth is not being booked and busy, but living a life that honors God. So Lord, thank you for every woman listening to this and thank you for being our source of peace and strength.

Help us re-evaluate our priorities. Help us build rhythms that bring us closer to you and release anything, anything that distracts us from your purpose. Guide us as we seek balance in our busy lives and remind us that our worth is found in you and you alone.

Thank you for spending time with me today and if this episode resonates with you, please share it with a friend or subscribe so that you don't miss any future episodes. But until next time ladies, winning women, let's keep striving to be the balanced, beautiful winning women that God created us to be. Go win this week and make God proud. Bye for now.