Many of us are intrigued by all of the talk about balance.  At the visceral level we know that we should ease up on the accelerator pedal in life.  Yet, if we did, we would not achieve our goals and aspirations in life.  We wouldn’t want to lag behind others in our burgeoning career.  Busyness, especially in work, is par for the course.  Is balance in life possible?  Can we achieve excellence in our careers and still have time for recreation, relationships, volunteer service, and spiritual development?

Balance is a principle that I advocate in my “Christian Life and Discipleship” class.  In fact, the statement “It’s all about balance” has been attributed to me although I don’t recall articulating this (at time I can be an absent-minded professor).  A Facebook group was started with that in mind “Its all about Balance” (“It’s” is misspelled).  What I mean is that we need to pay attention to our physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, and relational aspects of our lives.  Jesus was described as one who grew in wisdom (mental/intellectual) and stature (physical) and in favor with God (spiritual) and man (emotional/relational) [Luke 2:52].  We might think of the need for an integrated or a holistic life.  If you lack attention to one area, the other areas go askew.  In the course of a week, have we invested time in each of these areas?

A number of popular Christian authors, Marva Dawn and John Ortberg, decry balance as a North American value.  We just can’t look at a perfectly sliced pie chart for the areas of our lives.  I agree that we need an “unbalanced” and radical commitment to Jesus Christ (e.g. Luke 14:25-33; Matthew 9:37).  Yet, we need the other areas for an integrated life.  Time spend in each area differ but each area should not be omitted.  A person embarking on a new job would have a different profile than a senior manager.  Certainly a university student’s summer would look different than as a full-time student during the school year with a part-time job and ministry responsibilities.

While a majority of my time, energy, and thought in focused on work (teaching, preaching, ministry with students and pastors), I intentionally take time to balance my life.  Regular exercise time at the gym or at the tennis courts or table tennis table is part of my weekly regimen.  Watching what I eat and my sleep patterns are part of the physical aspect of my life.  Spiritually, I have regular devotions and include journaling and other devotional reading.  Extended time with God in personal retreat has been particularly enriching.   Mentally, I have research and writing related to ministry.  Relationally, I spend time with family and also spend time with friends.  Emotionally, I deal with stress by exercise and with good conversation and even venting with others.  I would not say I am perfectly balanced but at least I am relatively balanced.  Being conscious of this concept prevents me from leaving out important areas of my life.  I am rethinking what adhering to a Sabbath principle means in my life.

I have found that Steven Covey’s weekly chart in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People instrumentally in projecting the upcoming week with roles and time allotments.

Is work/life balance possible?  It is possible as you commit your life and time to God.  You become intentional about including the various important dimensions in your life.  Oh, and I have found that God’s timing is usually behind our timing.  To be in God’s timing, will, and direction is the best type of living, abundant living (John 10:10).

Dr. Daniel L. Wong, Toronto
www.tyndale.ca/~dwong.

“Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, 4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans” (Dan. 1:3-4, NKJV).

Wisdom brings with it connotations of higher-level cerebral processes. It falls under the category of terms that we use so frequently to encapsulate so much, yet whose meanings are seldom spelt out…

I was excited when I found out a professor at the university wanting to start a course entitled, “Wisdom Literature in the Bible”. The intriguing class challenged me, not only with down-to-earth answers for some complex issues, but also with striking questions I would not otherwise know to ask. Here’s a sampling of what I learned:

From the Bible, I’ve heard that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Pro. 9:10), yet the opening chapter of Proverbs says that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Pro. 1:7). While we make distinctions between (head) knowledge and (more inclusive) wisdom today, the original Hebrew word for “knowledge” actually encompasses what we define as knowledge, perception, skill, discernment, understanding, and wisdom. It is the same “knowledge” that the artists and architects of the Tabernacle had in Exodus 31:3-5, and the identical word used in the criteria that Daniel and his three friends fulfilled in the passage above. This wisdom includes skills and know-how in the arts (architecture in Exo. 31) and sciences (Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams might correlate to the study of psychology in to today’s world).

Then, there’s the most famous wise person in the Bible: King Solomon, who was known for his unfathomable wisdom and wealth. The Queen of Sheba, also renowned as a figure of wise royalty, was left “breathless” by Solomon’s wisdom (I Kin. 10:5). God’s gift of wisdom was not limited to His own people, yet the quality of Solomon’s wisdom, which began with the fear of the LORD, spoke volumes, caught the attention of the world, and brought glory to the LORD.

The quality of wisdom is exposed by the outcome. Solomon’s wisdom brought happiness, peace, justice, and righteousness to God’s people (1 Kin. 10:8-9). Today, our interactions with others form a significant facet of life that requires implementing wisdom. God-given wisdom brings the same favourable effects in our relationships. It is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy” (Jam. 3:7).

Given all of this, what does it mean to be a wise Christian? We must always acknowledge and fear the Source of wisdom in all our ways. We must continually work at attaining wisdom. We must intentionally apply the wisdom in our lives. We must be arrows, directing the glory to God alone.

Good fruit will encourage us along the correct path. However, when we become complacent, the picture is bleak and devastating, as evidenced by the damage that ensued when Solomon withdrew his fear of the LORD in 1 Kings 11.

Like so many things in life, wisdom is not a box that we check off on a to-do list. As with all relational aspects, we must consciously invest continual effort to press onward and reach higher when it comes to wisdom. Are we at peace with God? With our co-workers? With our family?

– Caleb Yeung, Winnipeg, MB

Without hesitation, Daniel is one of my most admired characters in the Bible. Apart from his thrilling experiences during the exile, there were many ‘little things’ that deserve our attention.

[1] “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself…” (1:8)

We know that Daniel was given an intensive training to become a bureaucrat… similar to today’s MPA Program. This training program includes daily choice food and wine, similar to the wine-and-dine in most work-related conferences. Yet Daniel resolved not to defile himself. Do we have values or principles that we are resolved not to compromise?

[2] “When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact” (2:14)

Over the years working in Human Resources, I find that work is not difficult in itself, but the way we deal with people defines the end results. When we are placed in difficult circumstances - whether it is the criticism of your ideas or plans, exposing your flaws or faults, or simply a heated discussion on a proposal - it’s natural to be on a defensive position. And if it was an error, we may either brush it off, sweep it under the rug, or to pass the buck to another person (I cannot recall how many of us will admit we forgot to turn off the lights when we are confronted the first time).

Yet Daniel looked beyond his own circumstances, spoke with tact to the officer (to find out more information), and decided to deal with the core issue permanently. The definition of tact is ‘consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offence’. Let us pause, think, and then be tactful in how we handle our difficult circumstances.

[3] “Then Daniel answered the king, ‘You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.’” (5:17)

In Godfather, Tom the lawyer was demoted in the family business after Michael takes over… surely Michael may have done so to protect Tom, yet I’m not sure if that’s how Tom will feel. That’s what happened to Daniel: when the king had a shocking problem of interpreting the writings on the wall, the king went to ALL other magicians and enchanters first. it’s only after his wife’s ‘encouragement’ in which the king tries to ‘bribe’ Daniel to interpret the dream.

Note that Daniel’s response was VERY professional (although there might be a touch of bitterness… I’m not sure). Without hesitation or second thoughts, Daniel does what the king asked him to do. May we also take heart and be mindful of the objective or work that’s set in front of us, rather than to dwell on squabbles or personal emotions (even though it is very difficult).

(4) “They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.” (6:4)

Believe it or not, companies need managers and administrators because mismanagement and corruption are the nature of things for all workplaces. People take shortcuts, cheat and lie because it is the easy thing to do. Yet we see that Daniel was neither corrupt nor negligent. Do we make every effort to be diligent in all that we do, even though it is the long and narrow path?

(5) “I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, ‘My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?’ He replied, ‘Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end… as for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” (12:8-9, 13)

In the book of Daniel, there were no recording on how God called Daniel to do what he does. Surely God was sovereign in everything: how Daniel was brought to the intensive training program, how Daniel was promoted to the third highest position in Babylon, and how God gave wisdom and interprets dreams (1:17). Yet here we see that there are limits to human’s wisdom and understanding. Even Daniel was temporarily denied to know what is to come during the end times. How great is our God, and how infinite his wisdom and knowledge in which God can shower upon us.

May we not be proud with what we process or what we have accomplished, but may we be mindful in our present tasks, so that we may be called “good and faithful servants” - one that is neither corrupt nor negligent.

Geoffrey Hui (Winnipeg)