The New Normal of Balanced Books

Infusions of Faith

Recently, Arlene McPeters, a friend of ours, shared a post from a prayer group. It spoke to our hearts in meaningful ways. As we watch the scenes playing out across our community, our nation and around the world, it's easy to become angry and wonder if God is paying attention. This post helps us to understand that ultimately God settles all accounts. We hope you enjoy this excerpt from the Facebook page, Hitting The Ground Running For Jesus, as much as we did. We share a few thoughts afterwards on how to go through the waiting period of your "balancing" process. May God speak His peace to you this week.

 

“...I will give them back everything they’ve lost. The last word is, I will have mercy on them...”  (Jeremiah 33:26, MSG)

"Balancing Your Books 

In accounting, the term balancing the books means making up for a loss. If an account has a deficit, when you balance the books, you have to first take all the losses, all the deficits, and total them up. Then you know how much you need to add to balance it. When the books are balanced, nobody can tell there’s ever been a loss.

In the same way, God has promised that He will balance the books of our lives. We all go through things that put us at a deficit—a rough childhood, the loss of a loved one, something that doesn’t make sense. If nothing changed, we would be out of balance. Life is not always fair, but God is fair. You may go through seasons when you’re out of balance, but God is going to settle your case. He will add up all the losses, the disappointments, and the heartaches, and He will pay you back.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You have seen the hurts in my life, and You feel my pain. I may be unbalanced right now, but thank You that You have promised to balance my books. I believe that You already have a way to settle my case and pay me back. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” "

A Few Thoughts...from Jill and Michael

Grieving losses is a natural reaction during the balancing process.  Although God moves to make things right, He does this in His own time.  Often, His timing includes loss, sorrow, joy, successes and many other emotions and experiences.  It’s hard to accept and imagine that a loving God would use seemingly negative situations to bring about good things.  Many of us are familiar with the promise that God will work things out for our good, if we love him and are called according to his purpose.  We are less understanding about the fact that His "working out" usually includes a journey.

As we learn to trust God to balance the books, we must accept many situations that we do not understand and that might be out of our control.  However, even in the midst of this uncertainty, we can grab hold of eternal truths:

1. God is still in charge.
2. God is not surprised by anything happening in our lives.
3. God gives grace to endure, overcome and thrive.
4. God is with us in the middle of every circumstance.

So, as you walk with God through the balancing process, be sure to be fully present with God, fully aware of God, and fully dependent on God. Enjoy the journey and may your books be balanced by his grace.

 

Resource

 God Is Faithful by Norman Hutchins