The Gift of Accountability
How we can get off track if we don’t allow others in our life to help us shape our lives! What we see as the perfect scenario is often times off base, unbalanced and can lead us to living a life of obsession.
I have noticed something in people. God creates us each with unique gifts and passions. Those gifts & passions are what add the spark to our lives.. that make us the unique individual that we are; that bring our gifts to the world! They are the things that light us up.. many times the areas where we are the most effective. It is easy in those areas to get off balance because God has put within us such an affinity for them & because we experience success which is so gratifying! And because they are wrapped up with the very essence of the purposes which God created us to fulfill in this earth. So we add more. If it is helping others we get unbalanced, run ourselves ragged & do not allow time for taking care of our family members. If it is athletics, we push for more and more events and training. If it is things of the spirit we add one more bible study instead of enjoying the one that we are in & allowing space for the other things in life that belong but may not light us up the way our area of passion does. Then things get out of balance.
We are the only ones who don’t see it. Everyone around us watches the rhythm, patterns & commitments of our life and has thoughts in their mind of wishing they could say something to free us from the bondage of being out of balance. But we cling to those things in our life. We don’t want anyone to take them from us. We can’t say no because we love that area so much.
What beauty there is in accountability. Accountability, the gift that God created to help us live the lives that He intended. I am discovering more and more His design to make us incomplete in ourselves alone. We need each other. We can’t be what he designed us to be unless we walk closely with others; others who can see clearly and help us stay on His path & keep from getting out of balance.
We don’t think others can do this. We don’t think they know what is best for us. We think we only need to listen to God along with our own thoughts and desires. But that isn’t true. And I am seeing it up close.
I see it in 2 friends whom lives are running out of balance. Doing what were “good” things when they were in the lesser amounts, but now they have continued to add & they are spinning out of control. It is costing them relationship with God because they have no time to spend with him. It is costing them relationship with their family members because they aren’t available or are completely exhausted. It has cost them perspective. They can’t see their lives clearly because they are running at such a breakneck speed. The funny thing is that it is obvious to everyone but themselves. No one can say the thing they are pursuing with every ounce of their being is not a “good” thing in its original state, but in the overdone state it is now subtracting from the good life of all.
How they would benefit if they would open their lives to the input of those closest to them! If they would open their clenched fist & let that precious thing be wrenched free as that person helps them live in God’s balance again. The life that would come back in to replace that thing would be beautiful and refreshing and the blinders would fall from their eyes as they regained their perspective.
But we’re so afraid. Afraid to open our lives to anyone for fear of their lack of wisdom; our lack of trust. Ultimately, afraid that God is not powerful enough to direct our lives thru the words & corrections of someone else.
I am facing decisions in my life right now. There are many things that I love and that I am considering making a part of my next phase and yet all of them are not sent from God into my life. The hard part is, I want all of them! I need to open my life to the help & perspective of my closest relationships and trust God’s plan of “the body” all working together to bring health and function perfectly. I’m so scared that they are going to point their finger at the thing I love the most and say “no”. I need to pray and trust God in this. He is always right and I am very often, in my best intentions, wrong, only I don’t know it.
The people who fare the best in life are those who live this way. They stay in balance. They realize the weakness of their own flesh.. that feelings and desires cannot be fully trusted. They know we are prone to error and that God is strong enough to keep us on His path when we do things His way. I see it, now praying for the strength to live it out.
Pr 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right but in the end it leads to death.”