606. The Myth of "Balance"

[00:00:04] Welcome to today's broadcast of Lead2Serve, a leadership podcast with Ed Taylor.

[00:00:10] Welcome again to another episode of the Lead2Serve podcast coming to you recorded live in the studios here of Grace FM Colorado, our radio network here at Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado.

[00:00:25] My name is Ed Taylor. I'm the pastor of Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado and in studio with me for season number six of the Lead2Serve podcast is Pastor Bob Claykamp. Welcome again, Bob.

[00:00:39] Good. Great to be here.

[00:00:40] Glad you're here. We're grateful for your guys' response, for you guys leaving good reviews. Thank you for that.

[00:00:47] You know, our goal is to see you grow in your servant leadership and from judging from the feedback and the increase in listenership, we're hitting the mark. So thank you for that.

[00:00:57] If you have any topics you want us to cover or think about or pray over, text me 720-608-0012, 720-608-0012, or email me ed at edtaylor.org.

[00:01:14] These times are designed to discuss important topics related to our serving Jesus in the days in which we live, no matter where you are, home, work, church, supermarket, wherever we might be.

[00:01:27] The Lord is with us. And remember, the better servant you are, the better leader you will become.

[00:01:36] Today's topic is a little different, but not so much. I want to propose something to you.

[00:01:44] And then let's talk it out, Bob. I want to propose something to you and all of our listeners that are a part of it.

[00:01:51] And I want you guys listening right now to picture yourself like in a room, like maybe in my office or we're at a conference, not like a big Q&A, but we're talking about it in the room.

[00:02:03] And so you have your point of view, you have your feedback, but you're also presented with an idea maybe you haven't heard before, which is a place of learning.

[00:02:12] That's where we learn as we start processing things that we've never heard before.

[00:02:16] And the topic today is balance, because this is talked about a lot.

[00:02:25] And it's a point of frustration for so many people.

[00:02:29] And the question that comes to me all the time, Bob, and comes to me is, I don't know, Pastor, how can I find the balance?

[00:02:35] And then they have two things that they, or three things.

[00:02:38] How can I find the balance between work and my work life and my home life?

[00:02:42] How can I find the balance between my marriage and my hobby?

[00:02:46] How can I find the balance between church and home and work?

[00:02:49] And it's balance.

[00:02:52] And almost always, now that I'm thinking about it right now, I don't think anyone's ever come to me and said, Pastor, I just want to let you know, I have found the balance in life.

[00:03:04] I can't think of one time in the entirety of my ministry that anybody has ever come to me and just to let me know, I'm perfectly balanced, found it all.

[00:03:13] Don't need your help, Pastor.

[00:03:15] I just want to let you know, I have found the balance.

[00:03:18] I've been watching Cesar Millan too much.

[00:03:22] What they are communicating, though, is that the pressures of life, the pressures of serving God, the pressures of home, the pressures of church,

[00:03:33] the pressures of serving at a church are so heavy and so hard that in their response, they're finding that something is suffering.

[00:03:44] They aren't able to do everything that they want to do or have done, and they're looking for a solution.

[00:03:52] And one of the first places that they look for is balance.

[00:03:58] They want to continue, and it's normal.

[00:04:00] We all want this.

[00:04:01] We all want to continue to do everything that we are, and we want to do it well.

[00:04:06] And here's my proposition, and it'll be startling.

[00:04:11] And this may be, I'm not sure, I haven't titled the podcast yet.

[00:04:15] I just have the topics, but this might be the title.

[00:04:18] There is no such thing as balance as you're expecting it.

[00:04:23] You are unable to balance ministry and work.

[00:04:29] I'm unable to balance ministry, work, school, because it implies that we are going to then be able to give the same amount of time, same amount of effort to everything all the time.

[00:04:42] And the balance, if you get the picture back in the day, you would put weights on one side.

[00:04:48] They still do this on one of the games on The Price is Right.

[00:04:51] They've got this fake scale, and the game is to balance the price of a trip or something with what they put on the other scales.

[00:04:59] And if the weight on one side and your guess on the other side balances out, then you're exactly where you need to be.

[00:05:06] So if you have a scale and you have work on one side and parenting on the other side, you think that the solution is to have them both equal.

[00:05:17] And that just isn't going to happen.

[00:05:19] That's not going to happen.

[00:05:20] It's not even the language of the Bible.

[00:05:24] So let me make my assertion, and then we can talk about it.

[00:05:27] But no such thing as balance because the language of the Bible is priority.

[00:05:33] Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God, and then all these other things.

[00:05:37] The language of the Bible is sacrifice.

[00:05:42] Sacrifice.

[00:05:42] There's a sacrificial.

[00:05:43] The language of the Bible is denying myself.

[00:05:48] And I believe balance has a sense of serving self because I'll feel better about everything I'm doing instead of being feeling or having a sense of I'm abiding in Christ and I'm where I need to be exactly when I need to be there.

[00:06:03] And so balance becomes, and it's my final thought, and then Bob, you can jump in.

[00:06:08] Balance becomes just another burden on an overly burdened life that you will not find the answer to.

[00:06:16] I mean, somebody might respond to the podcast, Pastor, I found the balance.

[00:06:21] Well, it's great.

[00:06:22] You're the only one in the whole wide world that's found the balance.

[00:06:25] And I'm adding to the thought, I understand there's a nuance of balance.

[00:06:29] I don't think it's sinful.

[00:06:31] I don't think the desire is sinful at all.

[00:06:33] And I do think that we can have some evenness and feel comfortable with our life in the moment.

[00:06:38] But balance, I don't believe exists the way that we're looking for it.

[00:06:43] It's all yours, Bob.

[00:06:44] Well, you go back to the basics with you and Jesus.

[00:06:50] Before you're a worker, before you're married, before you're a parent, you are a son or daughter of the living God.

[00:06:58] And Jesus Christ is your Lord.

[00:07:01] Lord, the title Lord means that he is in charge of your life.

[00:07:06] And so when you take your life with all the different spheres and little arenas and circles of your life,

[00:07:14] all of that has to be brought under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

[00:07:19] And when you examine the gospels and you look at the life of the disciples following Jesus,

[00:07:26] there were times where they were absolutely dog tired.

[00:07:30] And he said, come away and rest yourselves a while.

[00:07:35] And then they probably thought, oh, yeah, finally, finally, finally.

[00:07:40] And then they get to the place and there's this big crowd.

[00:07:43] And it says that Jesus, when he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them and saw them as sheep without a shepherd.

[00:07:52] And he went and ministered to them.

[00:07:54] And then there was this feeding of the 5,000, which all of a sudden now they got put back into service.

[00:08:00] They had to take 5,000 men plus women and children and have them sit down in groups of 50.

[00:08:08] Good luck.

[00:08:09] I mean, that was—where's the balance in that?

[00:08:13] I mean, it's—following Jesus is just being obedient to what he sets before you at the time to do and let him sort out all the rest of it,

[00:08:22] rather than trying to sort it out yourself, your family, your kids.

[00:08:26] I mean, it's one thing to be important, having your kids in your heart and paying attention to them,

[00:08:35] not being so caught up with work you forget your family.

[00:08:38] But, I mean, the Holy Spirit has been given to you as a believer to be able to guide you and to lead you day by day.

[00:08:47] And being obedient to that leading will create a lifetime that's a fulfilled lifetime.

[00:08:55] Yeah, I think to everyone listening in, Bob, like their pressure—they put added pressure on themselves.

[00:09:00] They have added stress because they're listening to us right now and they go,

[00:09:04] I can't find any balance. I've never found any balance.

[00:09:06] And if I did find one sense of balance, it was ripped away from me with a phone call or an email or a sick child or any of the kind of pressures.

[00:09:15] And this—in the language of the world, I think we have to step back as I process this.

[00:09:21] We have more of the world's thinking in us than we either recognize or admit.

[00:09:28] And let's say we work in the corporate—we work in the world.

[00:09:30] What the world wants is more of us.

[00:09:33] And they use the words like efficiency.

[00:09:35] You know, efficiency is a code word for we're going to work you into the ground and get as much as I can out of you.

[00:09:41] As much as I can as the time that you give me.

[00:09:46] That's—efficiency is—it doesn't just mean doing things well.

[00:09:49] It means if you do things well, then that opens up more capacity to do more.

[00:09:54] And that—there's a part of it where the world just take, take, take, take, take, take, take.

[00:10:00] And Jesus gives.

[00:10:02] He doesn't take.

[00:10:04] He is so counterintuitive.

[00:10:06] The kingdom of God is so counterintuitive to the world in which we live.

[00:10:11] One of the ways the world system has tried to address this is by introducing a new way of doing things to make us feel better about the pressures that we're feeling.

[00:10:24] And you guys listening in might feel this.

[00:10:26] They've introduced the phrase multitasking.

[00:10:30] I believe, along with balance, there is no such thing as multitasking as the world has presented it.

[00:10:39] And here's what I mean.

[00:10:40] I'm not saying we can't do two things at once or three things at once.

[00:10:43] Like, I can't—I'm not saying that.

[00:10:45] I know we can.

[00:10:46] That's not what multitasking is.

[00:10:48] What multitasking is is that you can do two things at once exceptionally well or with equal outcome.

[00:10:57] Like, I can give my attention to two things equally.

[00:10:59] I can multitask.

[00:11:01] I can type and talk at the same time.

[00:11:04] And I've been proven wrong on that a thousand different times.

[00:11:07] I remember the time where—I have a lot of memories of this where I think God has helped me to form this, where at the end of the podcast, you might even say, well, that's a problem for you, but nobody else on the planet.

[00:11:19] Okay, that's fine.

[00:11:20] I'll talk it out because it's going to be helpful for me to be better.

[00:11:23] But I know it's not because I deal with a lot of people.

[00:11:25] But I'm okay if it's just for me.

[00:11:27] But early in the days, the pressures of ministry were so much.

[00:11:31] And my position in the corporate world—I worked for an ambulance company 24-7.

[00:11:36] The company was suffering, so it required a lot of my attention and work.

[00:11:40] I would take my daughter or take my kids to the park.

[00:11:44] And I would take them to the park and put my daughter in the swing and push her.

[00:11:49] And I have vivid memories of being at the park, pushing my daughter with my right hand and on some phone call with my left.

[00:11:56] I was multitasking.

[00:11:58] And I was with my child at one.

[00:12:00] And I was at work at the same time.

[00:12:04] But not doing either one with my full attention.

[00:12:07] Not doing either one with my full presence.

[00:12:10] Not doing either one with excellence.

[00:12:13] Even though, if you asked me at the time, I would have told you I did it with excellence.

[00:12:18] What do you mean?

[00:12:18] I did it.

[00:12:19] I finished the phone call.

[00:12:20] Took care of it.

[00:12:21] Pushed my daughter on the swings.

[00:12:23] Did it.

[00:12:24] What was required at that time was to do one of them.

[00:12:28] Just one.

[00:12:29] And if my goal that morning was walking out and pushing my daughter on the swing, I should have left my phone in the house.

[00:12:38] That's what I should have done.

[00:12:39] I mean, if I look at it, that way I could do exactly what God had called me to do in the moment.

[00:12:44] And because Jesus put it in a different way, didn't he?

[00:12:46] He says, no man can serve two masters.

[00:12:49] You'll love the one, hate the other.

[00:12:51] He's talking about money.

[00:12:52] But the principle is universal.

[00:12:56] And I think of a time, not too many years ago, where I'm doing my email and I'm talking to Marie.

[00:13:05] She walks into my office here at the church and I'm on my, doing whatever email.

[00:13:10] I'm looking over my laptop to her.

[00:13:12] She's talking to me.

[00:13:13] And then she walks right up to my computer and closes it, which only she can do.

[00:13:18] Just like in another episode, remember she can also hand me a mint and she goes, you're not listening to me at all.

[00:13:26] And I go, no, I'm listening to you just fine.

[00:13:27] She goes, what did I say?

[00:13:29] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:13:32] Yeah, I think you said something about, about, about, whatever, you know.

[00:13:36] Well, that tells me that I might be able to look at her, hear her, not listen, but hear her and type an email.

[00:13:45] And who knows how bad that response was or whatever I was reading.

[00:13:49] But I'm reminded that I can't do two things at once.

[00:13:54] Well, Jesus gives us words of priority.

[00:13:58] If I'm following Jesus, he made it very clear.

[00:14:01] If I seek him first and his righteousness, everything else is going to follow.

[00:14:07] And that's the key.

[00:14:08] He's going to put me where I need to be.

[00:14:10] He's going to give me the strength that I need.

[00:14:12] Like right now we are recording this podcast and you already know somebody was at the door.

[00:14:17] I need you.

[00:14:18] Well, it's not going to be right now.

[00:14:19] I can't.

[00:14:20] And I need to set aside even what I needed so I can give you my full attention.

[00:14:24] But then I got a computer open, so I got to make sure email was put down.

[00:14:28] And then I've got a flashing phone here and I got to make sure it's on.

[00:14:31] Do not disturb.

[00:14:32] Like you have to get my full attention.

[00:14:35] I can't try to take this and take that and take that.

[00:14:39] That's four things.

[00:14:40] Just in the span of the last 15 minutes, I had four things.

[00:14:44] I have to choose one.

[00:14:46] Give it my full attention.

[00:14:49] And that's because I think that's what God wants me to do.

[00:14:52] If there was some emergency urgent, then I would say, okay, Bob, I think we've got something more urgent.

[00:14:58] Let me excuse myself.

[00:14:59] But this whole idea, have you thought about this as deep?

[00:15:02] Am I overthinking it?

[00:15:03] I mean, like I want to set people free from this extra pressure they might be putting on themselves.

[00:15:08] Well, I think that if you're in a family setting and you have an urgent call that has to come in at 7 p.m., then you need to communicate.

[00:15:22] And not just, so excuse me, I'm gone.

[00:15:25] You need to communicate to them that you have a priority, like you were saying here.

[00:15:30] And you go, well, you know, the kids are crying and this and that.

[00:15:34] And you're going, well, I have to take care of this.

[00:15:37] And so this is my focus.

[00:15:39] And I think it's extending grace, just to have grace space in the family.

[00:15:45] Yes.

[00:15:45] But you've got to communicate what your expectations are, because if you don't do that, then it creates conflict.

[00:15:52] I'm speaking from personal experience.

[00:15:55] Of course, yeah.

[00:15:55] Okay.

[00:15:56] And so I have my issue, personally, is I have to be careful of my phone, because my wife wants my attention.

[00:16:13] And sometimes she has three or four minutes between the things she says.

[00:16:21] And so if she stops, then my go-to is I need to check my email.

[00:16:27] Yeah.

[00:16:28] And then she sees it as I'm not done.

[00:16:30] And so there's, you know, there's things that I have to realize about myself.

[00:16:36] If there's dead air time, it doesn't mean that she's done communicating.

[00:16:43] And so I've got to just learn to grow in that.

[00:16:47] I mean, I've been married, what, 54 years.

[00:16:49] Yes.

[00:16:50] And so I'm still learning about that.

[00:16:54] And so I've got to just choose my time wisely and be sensitive to the moment.

[00:17:00] I want to set you free.

[00:17:01] That's my thought.

[00:17:02] Like when I really have rarely had someone come to me and say they have found the balance.

[00:17:09] It's almost always, how do I find the balance?

[00:17:12] And the first step is setting aside this definition of balance and saying, what do I want to accomplish in life?

[00:17:19] Like, what do I want?

[00:17:20] I want to honor the Lord.

[00:17:21] And if I want to honor the Lord, then I'm going to listen to him.

[00:17:24] We don't have the privilege, which would be kind of cool in some respects and interesting in others.

[00:17:30] But to have Jesus in the flesh here coming and saying, Bob Claycamp, pick up your stuff and come follow me for three years.

[00:17:39] We don't have that kind of relationship.

[00:17:41] God is not calling us into that type of relationship any longer.

[00:17:46] His dispensation has changed.

[00:17:47] It's a different time.

[00:17:48] But he is calling us into full commitment.

[00:17:51] So how does full commitment look like to him?

[00:17:54] And full commitment looks like to him that we trust him by abiding in him, drawing on his resources and believing that our priorities and believing that he is going to help us keep our priorities in order.

[00:18:08] And another way that has over the years, the church has tried to approach this is to set those priorities for us.

[00:18:16] And it's like God first, then family, then the church.

[00:18:21] And we're like, well, where's that in the Bible?

[00:18:23] I don't see that pyramid in the Bible.

[00:18:26] This is what I see in the Bible.

[00:18:28] God first.

[00:18:30] And he'll sort it all out for you.

[00:18:32] Because this sense of balance is very difficult to get.

[00:18:38] So let's say for you and I, we're going to spend in the, and we already have.

[00:18:42] So the previous season, I think we did 10 episodes.

[00:18:45] We did 10 episodes of half hour.

[00:18:47] So we invested, let's say six hours of our time.

[00:18:51] Six hours.

[00:18:52] So does that mean now that I need to find six hours with Marie?

[00:18:57] And you need to go back and sit down and go, okay, Jeannie, sit down.

[00:19:01] Because in order to balance out my life, I've got to give you six hours.

[00:19:06] So I just want you to know the clock is starting right now.

[00:19:10] Now we, that's silly.

[00:19:11] That's silly.

[00:19:11] You're laughing.

[00:19:12] I'm, that's silly.

[00:19:13] But in our minds, we start the clock in the clock.

[00:19:17] Start the clock in the clock.

[00:19:18] Start the clock in the clock.

[00:19:20] When I believe in the recording of the sessions of the podcast, that's what God wanted me to do.

[00:19:27] I pray that my wife also believes that.

[00:19:30] And that my children, like maybe recording the podcast isn't the same.

[00:19:35] Maybe it's eight hours at work.

[00:19:37] I believe my kids will understand that in order to provide for the needs of my family, I'm at work for eight hours.

[00:19:44] I'm not striving when I get home now to find eight hours with the kids.

[00:19:49] So let's say 5 p.m. comes along and now starting at six, I've got to do eight hours.

[00:19:56] Well, eight hours with the kids starting at six is, you know, what is that?

[00:20:01] 2 a.m. in the morning.

[00:20:03] Well, that, that is not possible.

[00:20:07] It's sacrifice.

[00:20:09] And it's sacrifice in the realm of what God has set as our priorities.

[00:20:15] And if we don't have our priorities in order, then everything is going to be upside down.

[00:20:23] And one of the ways that the world, the churches started to describe this today is to recognize,

[00:20:30] analyze and recognize the rhythms in life where you recognize your lip.

[00:20:34] And I like that.

[00:20:35] I like that sense where when the kids are small, it's a different rhythm.

[00:20:40] When there are events at church, it's a different rhythm.

[00:20:43] When there's, like, I think of accountants, you know, any accountant that you know is going to be absolutely unavailable in March.

[00:20:52] Because it's a rhythm and tax season's coming up and they're just going to be slammed.

[00:20:59] And, but that makes them more available in May because that's a quieter month.

[00:21:05] And learning your rhythms helps take some of that pressure off where you're being anxious for nothing.

[00:21:10] And I think balance and multitasking has made, has added anxiety and pressure and stress.

[00:21:18] Instead of just looking to the king and he'll tell us what to do.

[00:21:22] He'll affirm us.

[00:21:23] He'll correct us.

[00:21:25] He will lead us.

[00:21:26] And we can trust him with our lives.

[00:21:29] Well, yeah.

[00:21:29] I mean, you can have a season of work where it's highly demanding for a season.

[00:21:35] And in your mind, you go, I need to spend time with the kids.

[00:21:39] The go-to with that thought is you go to the Lord and you say,

[00:21:44] God, I would like to have you block out some time that I could spend with my kids.

[00:21:50] Could you work out the circumstances and help me recognize it and not just go because I have momentum.

[00:22:00] Yes.

[00:22:02] I want to let every day be fresh, every day be new.

[00:22:05] Jesus said, sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.

[00:22:08] So I've got to go day by day.

[00:22:10] But take it to the Lord.

[00:22:12] Because if he's the one who has the schedule, or schedule, depending on where you're from,

[00:22:20] then all of a sudden you're going to find yourself, all of a sudden there's this gap.

[00:22:25] Yeah.

[00:22:25] And the kids are there, they're just sitting in the living room, and there's gas in the car,

[00:22:31] and you go, hey, let's go up to Estes Park and let's just do this.

[00:22:38] Yes.

[00:22:38] And so, you know, there you go.

[00:22:40] But it's, God wants to use the things of life to teach us about him and about ourselves if we'll give him an opportunity.

[00:22:50] Yes.

[00:22:50] And by the way, Estes Park is a small little resort community here in Colorado.

[00:22:55] It's worth visiting.

[00:22:56] You should come out and visit us.

[00:22:57] We would love to see you and meet you.

[00:23:00] And you can go to Estes Park.

[00:23:01] There's a lot of elk up there.

[00:23:02] And one of the best, I think there was a candy store up there that just got voted best saltwater taffy in the world or the country or something.

[00:23:11] And it's true.

[00:23:12] They have some great candy up there.

[00:23:13] We go up there.

[00:23:14] They also have a pie shop called You Need Pie.

[00:23:17] It's behind McDonald's.

[00:23:18] You like pie, huh?

[00:23:20] Sort of.

[00:23:20] Yeah, that's good.

[00:23:21] Okay.

[00:23:22] I appreciate that because I was thinking too with your kids, they also have priorities.

[00:23:26] They got homework to do.

[00:23:27] And so you can't stress out that they're not spending time with you because they have responsibilities.

[00:23:32] And one of the areas that God has helped me in my own rhythm of life, my own walk with the Lord, is to be present in the moment and enjoy the moment for what it is, which I believe is what Jesus was wanting to teach us.

[00:23:48] Enjoy the moment.

[00:23:49] That's what you have.

[00:23:50] Don't worry about tomorrow.

[00:23:52] That's what preceded that verse.

[00:23:55] Don't worry about tomorrow.

[00:23:56] Don't be anxious.

[00:23:57] Don't be concerned.

[00:23:59] Don't be concerned.

[00:23:59] And it's not just worrying about tomorrow, but it's worrying of, I need the balance.

[00:24:03] No, what you need is peace.

[00:24:05] The peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

[00:24:09] And it is true that you could give yourself more to something or someone more than you are to others.

[00:24:17] But as you were sharing, Bob, you take it to the Lord, he's going to show you.

[00:24:22] He's going to reveal to you.

[00:24:24] He's going to help you be exactly where you need to be with exactly who you need to be, even alone.

[00:24:31] I mean, you think about your walk in the morning.

[00:24:34] Do you take Jeannie with you?

[00:24:36] Sometimes.

[00:24:37] That's what I was expecting to hear.

[00:24:39] It's sometimes.

[00:24:40] Sometimes.

[00:24:40] It's not all the time because there's no added pressure.

[00:24:43] There's no added pressure.

[00:24:44] Jeannie, you have to come.

[00:24:45] Yeah, but I'm not feeling well, Bob.

[00:24:47] Well, then how are we ever going to be balanced?

[00:24:49] Because you made the, like, no, I'm not feeling well.

[00:24:53] Well, I just don't want to walk today.

[00:24:55] Hey, no problem.

[00:24:56] Like it's, but we're adding, I think that's where I'm coming from, where I'm watching the hurried, rushed, pressure packed.

[00:25:05] And when it comes to ministry, when it comes to serving in the church, volunteering in the church, here's what happens.

[00:25:11] I can't find balance.

[00:25:12] Something's got to give.

[00:25:14] I'm going to quit serving.

[00:25:16] That's going to bring me the balance that I need.

[00:25:18] That's going to, no, it's actually, it's not going to do anything other than if the Lord didn't tell you to step out of ministry, then you're just going to have all kinds.

[00:25:26] You're going to have more time to spend on something else that you're still not going to feel balanced.

[00:25:30] You're going to fill that time with something.

[00:25:32] And it should be filled with serving the Lord.

[00:25:35] I should step into service.

[00:25:37] I was made to serve, but I also shouldn't step out of service unless the Lord leads me.

[00:25:42] And I've watched that.

[00:25:44] Rarely do people quit at work.

[00:25:46] I feel so imbalanced.

[00:25:47] I quit my job.

[00:25:48] No, they don't do that.

[00:25:49] Or I quit my home.

[00:25:50] Nope, they don't do that.

[00:25:51] They always quit serving in the church.

[00:25:53] I remember a time, pastoring in Phoenix, where I felt like I was at a logger jam where we weren't going forward, been there 14 years.

[00:26:04] And I was thinking, well, maybe I'm just done.

[00:26:07] I'm just done.

[00:26:08] You know, so I'm going to, I even started talking to my leadership.

[00:26:12] Well, I think I'm kind of done.

[00:26:13] We should probably think about what.

[00:26:15] And then the Lord kind of sat me down and said, okay, let's sort this out here.

[00:26:21] Are you called to be here?

[00:26:23] Did I call you to pastor this church?

[00:26:25] And I went, yeah, that's fine.

[00:26:28] Have I called you to leave?

[00:26:31] Well, probably not, but I don't care.

[00:26:34] Are you asking me if I feel that way?

[00:26:37] Yeah.

[00:26:37] And then he said, look, if I've called you to be here and I have not called you to leave, you have no business lead.

[00:26:44] Yeah.

[00:26:45] So you make the call.

[00:26:47] Yeah.

[00:26:48] It's like the best counsel in the world, right, Bob?

[00:26:50] Stop it.

[00:26:51] Yeah.

[00:26:52] Two words.

[00:26:53] Yeah.

[00:26:53] Stop it.

[00:26:54] In English.

[00:26:56] But the purpose of this discussion is, and in our next episode, we're going to bring up another topic that I want to reconsider from just the normal way of thinking of it, which is fun for me.

[00:27:08] I like to explore this way because it helps bring some depth and some growth in this.

[00:27:13] But the purpose of why I brought this up, because I just see it.

[00:27:17] I see this added burden of stress, which leads to prayerlessness, that leads to frustration.

[00:27:23] It leads to, you know, people are unhappy.

[00:27:27] They're fearful.

[00:27:29] Maybe I'm making all the wrong decisions only because they can't find balance their whole life.

[00:27:34] I just can't find the balance when maybe balance isn't, doesn't even exist the way you think.

[00:27:41] Maybe balance, we need to reconsider it in terms of, I'm going to do what's in front of me.

[00:27:45] I'm going to be faithful.

[00:27:47] I trust the Lord to leave him with my life.

[00:27:49] He'll have me where he wants me.

[00:27:51] He'll tell me to go.

[00:27:53] He'll tell me to stop.

[00:27:54] Sometimes I'm going to give more time to this, but then I'll give over time to this.

[00:27:58] And I think of pastors in particular just for a moment.

[00:28:02] Pastors, take time off.

[00:28:05] Enjoy your days off.

[00:28:07] If some pastors only get one day off because the church they're in, they follow the Sabbath model.

[00:28:12] Fine.

[00:28:13] That's fine.

[00:28:13] Then make sure that's a true day off of rest.

[00:28:16] Make sure it's real rest.

[00:28:18] If you get two days, make sure it's real rest.

[00:28:21] Let God define what rest is.

[00:28:24] If you get vacation time, take a vacation.

[00:28:28] Because what happens is these guys build up, be able to build up.

[00:28:31] And now what's becoming popular is sabbaticals, sabbaticals, sabbaticals.

[00:28:35] I'm not opposed to a sabbatical, but sometimes you get to that place because you didn't know how to take.

[00:28:40] And they take a sabbatical and then half of it's wasted because they don't know how to rest.

[00:28:44] They're just so wound up, wound up.

[00:28:45] They don't know how to rest.

[00:28:46] You got to train yourself to rest little by little by little.

[00:28:51] And the Lord will take care of his church.

[00:28:53] And the Lord will take.

[00:28:54] I had to learn this at work.

[00:28:56] I was just so caught up in work.

[00:28:57] And no, they'll be fine.

[00:29:00] They're, oh, it's going to be fine, Ed.

[00:29:02] Enjoy me today.

[00:29:04] Going on a walk, you know how you were mentioning how you get distracted at times, like we all do.

[00:29:10] The walk is actually training you to be less distracted.

[00:29:13] It's not like it's going to go away because we're human.

[00:29:16] But again, I want to be able, if I'm going to be more effective, not necessarily more efficient, but more effective, then I need to learn to follow the shepherd.

[00:29:27] Yeah.

[00:29:27] That's the key.

[00:29:29] And if you want more fruit, then you have to sow.

[00:29:32] Yeah.

[00:29:33] There can be no fruit unless you sow seed.

[00:29:35] Yes.

[00:29:36] And so checking out and going, I'm just going to go get a cabin in the woods and chill.

[00:29:43] How are you sowing?

[00:29:44] Yes.

[00:29:44] How are you being fruitful?

[00:29:46] That's the whole goal.

[00:29:48] Lay up treasure in heaven, being fruitful in your latter times.

[00:29:52] Yeah, that's good.

[00:29:53] So thanks for being with me today, Bob.

[00:29:55] We're at the end of another episode.

[00:29:57] It's been a really good episode.

[00:29:58] I hope you share your feedback because it's a new thought for some of you.

[00:30:02] It's a new way of approaching this topic of balance.

[00:30:05] Email me, ed at edtaylor.org.

[00:30:09] But leave a good review so that the algorithm picks up the podcast and exposes more people to it.

[00:30:16] And then, of course, you can text us, 720-608-0012.

[00:30:22] And in our episode next week, we're going to explore another topic that we're going to rethink.

[00:30:28] And you'll have to tune in.

[00:30:29] We'll post it next week.

[00:30:30] But you'll have to tune in.

[00:30:32] And I want to talk with Bob about another topic that is worthy of rethinking because it adds so much unneeded worry, anxiety, stress, pride to a servant and a leader and a pastor's life.

[00:30:49] And I want to talk it out loud.

[00:30:50] But that will be next time.

[00:30:52] So until then, thanks for tuning in.

[00:30:55] Thanks for sharing it.

[00:30:56] Put this on your social media.

[00:30:57] Leave us some feedback.

[00:30:58] And may the Lord bless you, encourage you, and strengthen you in your walk with the Lord as a servant of Jesus.

[00:31:06] Thank you for joining us for this episode of Lead to Serve with Pastor Ed Taylor, a leadership podcast from Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado.

[00:31:14] If you have a leadership question you want to hear answered on a future Lead to Serve podcast, please email it to pastored at calvaryco.church.

[00:31:22] And if you like our podcast, please subscribe, rate, or review us on iTunes and share us with your friends on social media.

[00:31:29] Thanks again for joining us and we'll see you next time right here on the Lead to Serve podcast.