Upside-down Scales
I often forget that God’s Kingdom is completely upside down. I began searching and studying Bible verses that other people had compiled about the idea of balance and was confused by the verses it lead me to. The verses were not about balance but about God’s strength, His Sovereignty, my weakness and His capability. Biblical balance seems to be much more about how unbalanced the scales actually are instead of information about how to obtain balance.
My flesh starts each day with a desire to acheieve an unobtainable balance where my peace comes from maintaining a sense of control in each area of my life. Sometimes I have the capacity to plan out my day that allows me to accomplish all I need to, or maintain both authority and compassion when speaking to my kids, or ensure that the plan for the finances at the end of the month look the way I intended. But more often than not, I am reminded of Proverbs 16:9 which says “The heart of man plans his way, the the Lord establishes his steps.” I am often left frustrated when either my sinful heart or the fallen world stand in the way of obtaining the balance I saw as my goal.
As I looked at these different verses I saw the scales of maintaining balance more in line with God’s upside-down kingdom. “Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) reminds me that He holds the scale and in any area of misalignment He holds the power to add grace for balance. “Without faith it is impossible to please God,” (Hebrews 11:6) reminds me that balance of my earthly scale is literally impossible, but faith in God provides me to be balanced by His scale, the scale where He views Jesus in my place. 2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds me that God’s power is perfected in my weakness, which means when I cannot find a way to balance the scales of life, God steps in with Sovereignty.
God’s upside-down kingdom says the weak are made strong, the poor are made rich, the captives are set free and the last will be first.. Yet still I find myself striving to balance my own scales in parenting, in relationships, in work, in finances, in duty. But God says, “Honest balances and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern.” (Proverbs 11:6). What joy it should provide to me to know that God holds the scales, and not only the scales but the weights that create the balance. My earthly measures of success when it comes to balance in my life are not a part of God’s Kingdom – they will not be used by the Creator of the Universe to measure my life. So how long will it take before I lay down the scales I have created?