May 19, 2024
We have a staff prayer meeting every Monday morning. The person leading the prayer meeting this week opened up by asking, “What is taking up your bandwidth today?” The room went silent but you could look around at the faces and know that every single person was probably dealing with something that was taking up all their mental and maybe physical bandwidth. Some probably more than others but everyone had something.
The definition of bandwidth is “the energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation.” I don’t know about you, but I struggle with this. I can allow my own personal issues and/or the stressful situations that involve me drain my energy and my mental capacity. I have found that if I don’t have the correct balance in my life my mental scale seems to tip greatly to the item that is taking up the most bandwidth in my life. Balance is evenly distributing the weight which enables someone or something to remain upright and steady. The truth is if you don’t have balance you will fall.
I think I have said this before, but for me to be balanced I have to actively work at it both mentally and physically. The first thing I have to do is renew my mind and in doing so remember where my trust needs to be. In Isaiah 26:3 the Bible says “You (GOD) will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” When I am dealing with hard things and need to have balance in my mind it certainly will not come unless I trust God. I can’t trust Jill, but I must trust God. Proverbs 3:5 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
I can think of numerous occasions and instances where things have happened in my life that I cannot understand at all! I can’t make sense of them nor can I figure out their purpose or why they are happening. That is why God tells me to trust Him and not trust my own understanding of the situation. When things are tough, your mind is cluttered and out of balance so you must renew and clear your mind by trusting God. That is the only way to remain steady.
Another thing I need to remain balanced is to recognize what I can control. I saw an example the other day of things that I can control. It includes my words, my thoughts, my responses, and how I treat others. I can’t control the outcome or the result. That is in God’s control. In Proverbs 19:21 the Bible says “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” I cannot control the outcome and, honestly, I may think I know what is best but God’s plans are so much better than mine. My best plans might seem to be ideal but ideal plans that leave me with less of God are truly not ideal at all. To stay in balance I must surrender the control to God. That is the only way to remain steady.
The bottom line to being balanced is to trust the One who is holding you up. When I try to handle everything and work it out in my mind my bandwidth is completely taken up. When I allow this, I definitely run the risk of falling or failing. I think about my grandchildren learning to ride a balance bike. It was a process. They first would sit on the seat and walk their feet to move the bike. They would then progress to lifting their feet up and coasting a small distance and eventually they tackle all the hills and roads with their feet up. They trusted the bike and their skill at balancing the bike. However, it was a process and it does take practice.
We need to do the same to balance out our mind by trusting God in the process and continually practice this so we do not fall. Doing so will allow us to balance out our bandwidth to remain emotionally and physically steady.
For me, that means I must renew my mind, relinquish my plans, and recognize I am not in control but HE is. What is taking up your bandwidth today? Whatever it is I pray you will trust God and allow Him to hold you upright and steady!
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Jill Johnson, a staff member at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, finds spiritual applications in her everyday experiences as a wife, mother, grandmother and Georgian. She is available to speak to your church's women's gatherings. Reach her at jjohnson@gabaptist.org.
