Stability is Underrated.
Stability is underrated. Some will say it’s boring, predictable, and repetitive, but stability not only keeps us in balance, it keeps us in check.
Lately, stability has been top of mind because my husband rolled his ankle. He didn’t injure it when we were in Vermont hiking and dangerously slid down the side of a mountain on a path that wasn’t really a path. He rolled it once we were back home, taking a nice leisurely jog. One small rock tilted his ankle one direction, and then he overcorrected and rolled it the other way. The next day, his foot looked like an elephant’s.
Since then, my poor hubby has been hobbling around the house and office on a gimp leg. He has to be careful because leaning more on one side can throw his body out of alignment. A while ago, I injured my right knee, and so I favored my right side only to end up hurting my left lower back because I had overcompensated.
It’s important that we don’t let our lives get off kilter, and that goes for the good things as well as the bad. John’s hobbling reminded me of a list of the “Ten Stabilizers for Success” from Expert Ownership, a Christian business podcast by the Benham Brothers. This list stuck with me, and I’ve tried to apply it to my own life. Here are the first five, and I added some Biblical examples. (If you like these first few, I’ll do the next five next week.)
1. Wealth is stabilized by generosity: Money can change a person’s personality if not kept in balance. Think of Scrooge by Charles Dickens. Yet when money is seen as a tool for generosity, it can be put to good use. The Good Samaritan saw someone in need, used his own donkey to take the man to an inn, and he paid to have the wounded man cared for. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man who’d become a disciple of Jesus. He gave up his own tomb, which he’d had especially cut out of rock, and offered it for Jesus’s body to be buried in.
2. Power is stabilized by perspective: English historian Lord Acton coined the phrase, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” If not kept in check, power can go to someone’s head, but perspective can keep us humble. Paul had power. He was a well-known Roman of the tribe of Benjamin and a Pharisee who used his status to persecute Christ followers, but Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and humbled his perspective. After that encounter on the road to Damascus, Paul endured many trials spreading the gospel, like being jailed, shipwrecked, stoned, whipped etc., but he called these tribulations light and momentary troubles compared to eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). King Saul also had power, but he couldn’t get his well-trained soldiers to go up against Goliath. To them, Goliath was too big to hit, but a young shepherd boy named David held a different perspective. He knew that with God’s might, Goliath was too big to miss.
3. Strength is stabilized by gentleness: I’ve heard the phrase said, gentleness is strength under control, and a great example is the gentleness of Boaz toward Ruth. He was a successful landowner who allowed foreigners to glean from the edges of his fields. He saw Ruth’s diligent work and learned how she cared for her mother-in-law and made sure she received extra portions, and he eventually married her. David and his mighty men were fierce warriors being pursued by King Saul’s army. David had his chance to slay Saul, who was trying to kill him, when David literally caught Saul with his pants down, relieving himself in a cave. David restrained himself because Saul was the Lord’s anointed, so David merely cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
4. Influence is stabilized by responsibility: There are a lot of influencers out there on social media, and I can only hope that they understand the responsibility that they should have for their viewers. Both Joseph and Nehemiah had influence. Joseph was 2nd in command in all of Egypt, but he used his influence to store food for the times of famine and to save his family from starvation, the same brothers who sold him into slavery. Nehemiah was in charge of rebuilding the wall to protect the city of Jerusalem, and despite unneighborly resistance, he used his influence to keep the people working and see the job to completion.
5. Leadership is stabilized by servanthood: Jesus modeled this perfectly. The Son of God, who holds God’s authority, yet he spent his time on earth healing the sick, blind, and lame. His disciples followed his leadership, and He didn’t just teach them servanthood. He modeled it by washing their feet. Jesus took ownership of our sins and received the punishment that we deserved, dying on the cross.
Balancing our lives by emulating Jesus’s example can save us from hobbling around this earth, leaning on desires we were meant to keep in check.
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” - Proverbs 16:3