When I published the first few Rest Stop blogs a little over a year ago, one of the things I emphasized was that when it comes to the journey toward a life of rest and greater life balance that you must be ruthless in your pursuit. I’ve had to go back and reread a couple of my own posts!

The road toward rest and life balance is an ongoing journey and a battle, quite frankly. We travel this road in a world that does not at all support our desired destination. We must be careful not to compromise the principles and practices we have adopted and risk becoming complacent. I was conducting a self-checkup a few days ago and realized I was making small compromises and starting to go off the rails in two or three areas that I thought I had “down cold.” 

And therein lies the problem, thinking that once we have decided and begun a new discipline in an area of life that we won’t regress and that we’ll never again struggle in that area. Let me caution and encourage you, “Don’t go there!”  It took years of wrong thinking and bad decisions to realize I was not living a life of rest or life-balance. And even though it has been over four years now since I made the turn and have made great progress, I must remain vigilant.

To avoid the pitfalls of compromise and complacency consider the following: Do a self-check on a regular basis, at least monthly if not more frequently. Secondly, reread and continue to seek out new resources that support and speak into your life and help solidify your stance and standards. Third, find an accountability partner that has full freedom to speak into your life. Give them a list of questions to ask you on a regular basis pertaining to the ongoing disciplines you are working on or have already implemented. Make sure they are asking you the hard questions, avoid the fluff stuff. Fourth, recognize the world is not going to help you and that the enemy of your soul seeks to undermine all you are doing and wants you to conform to the world rather than being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:1-2 reads, “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Keep being ruthless!

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