Juggling

[bluidkiti]

“Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:15–16 (NIV)

It’s 9:20 pm, and I’m at the computer working. The phone rings. It’s a friend, asking if I can watch her daughters tomorrow morning for an hour. She’ll drop them off right after my daughter leaves for school.

The call waiting clicks, and I ask my friend to hold. “Keri, it’s Annette. I’m here at the PTA nominating committee meeting, and your name came up,” she begins. “We were wondering whether you’d consider an executive position on the board for next year.”

Such opportunities raise a question: When should I say yes, and when should I say no? We sometimes think that the good Christian answer to any request is ""yes."" But that’s not what Jesus did. He often withdrew to lonely places, which means He occasionally had to say no. If He said it, we should too.

A wise friend of mine puts it this way: “I picture myself juggling a lot of balls. Sometimes I drop a ball. In most cases, that’s not too big of a deal. But a few of the balls, like my husband and my kids, are glass balls. So I make sure I do whatever it takes not to shatter those balls. Some of the balls are rubber, and will bounce if we give them a little push now and then. Some are lead and weigh us down and we shouldn’t be trying to juggle them in the first place.”

Jesus did not juggle every ball that people asked Him to. We can serve and love people, but also ask for His help in determining which balls are glass, rubber or lead, and say yes and no accordingly.

Faith Step: What balls are you juggling that you should simply let go of? What do you need to say no to, so you can follow Jesus to a lonely place?

—Keri Wyatt Kent