Getting In Balance | Joel Osteen

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Reason some people are not enjoying life is because their account is overdrawn.
They’re good at letting people make withdrawals.
They work hard, meet expectations, keep everyone happy but they don’t have a system to where they get filled back up.
When you live drained, depleted, you won’t be as productive. You won’t have the stamina to overcome challenges.
You won’t enjoy your family like you should. There’ll be more strife, conflict.
You’ll be amazed at what happens if you’ll get back in balance. If you’ll make yourself a priority.
Let go of some of the pressures.
Yes, you love your children but you don’t have to be super parent.
Your children are gonna be raised out of the house at some point.
You don’t want to look back and think man, I didn’t enjoy those years.
I was so stressed, overwhelmed, tried to be everything, keep up with my neighbors.
If Jesus knew his limits, we should know our limits. And yes, we can do everything.
We can be Superman but that’s not healthy. Take the cape off. Get back in balance.
Sometimes it’s not other people’s expectations. It’s our own expectations.
We feel guilty for not doing everything we think needs to be done, for not meeting all the needs.
After all, we have the ability, the talent, the anointing, but you also have a physical body.
Like with Jesus, there are limits. He had to get away to keep being His best.
If He would have lived depleted, He would have shortchanged himself.
The best thing He could do was to get recharged.
On a regular basis, you need to have these times where you get replenished.
Life makes a lot of withdrawals. Things we’re not even aware of.
Traffic, work, deadlines, delays, difficult people, negative news. That’s all draining. That’s all taking from your account.
Now don’t make the mistake of living overdrawn.
If you go into a new week at a deficit, those same things come to take from you but there’s nothing there.
That’s when you get overwhelmed, frustrated, you’re not as productive, your gifts don’t come out like they should.
It’s not difficult, Just get back in balance.
On a regular basis, start taking time for you, for what replenishes you, for what fills you back up.
This may mean you have to say no to some things.
You may have to disappoint a few friends. Hey, I can’t be there every Monday night.
It’s a new season. You may have to tell your children we can’t play on 17 different soccer teams this fall.
Let’s just do 12. When the pandemic hit, it forced us to slow down.
Most people didn’t go to work, didn’t travel.
Airlines, some of them stopped running, shopping centers closed, everything was put on pause.
And although people lost their lives and our hearts go out to them, there was some good that came out of the pandemic.
It shifted our priorities. We realized there’s more to life than just working all the time, trying to achieve and outperform.
We saw how much we missed spending time with our family, enjoying the people that we love.
In a sense, it helped us bring us back into balance, to have a new perspective of what’s important.
Since 2004, we have done over 200 nights of hope in different cities across America.
Every month we’d go to the stadiums or basketball arenas. The event was normally on a Friday night.
We’d come home Saturday afternoon, do church Saturday night, 2 services on Sunday.
I write 2 books a year, do my SiriusXM radio program each week.
I love doing it, but I didn’t realize how much that was taken out of me.
When the pandemic hit, changed everything. No more events on the road.
Instead of 3 services, we recorded 1 service on Friday afternoon. No people in the auditorium.
I’d come in, do my message, half hour later I was done.
In 23 years since my father passed, I had never been so rested, never had so much energy.
I noticed that my contacts started to get blurry. Couldn’t read as well.
I went to the eye doctor, he ran the test.
He said Joel, this is very strange but the reason your contacts are blurry is because your vision has improved.
It hasn’t gotten worse, it’s gotten better, you need less correction.
Who knows what will happen if you’ll get back in balance?
I didn’t realize it, but when you have a lot of withdrawals taking place, you’re spending a lot of emotional energy, being productive, seeing your gifts come out, helping others.
You have to make sure you’re putting in a lot of deposits.
You’re taking time to get filled back up emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Working all the time is not hard.
You have the drive, the passion, but when you do, you’re running at a deficit. Your account is low.
It starts affecting other things. Your health, creativity, your attitude, relationships. Stay in balance.
Take time to get away. Every day you need to have some time to yourself.
Some time to get refreshed.
Then on a regular basis, put on the schedule what fills you back up.
Make it a priority to take care of you.
The apostle Paul was supposed to travel to the city of Corinth and visit with the people.
He had told them earlier that in a while He would be coming.
They were planning for His visit, eagerly awaiting for Him to show up, but Paul encountered great difficulties in Asia.
He was dealing with problems and people coming against him.
He wrote in 2nd Corinthians 1, we were pressed beyond measure. We were so overwhelmed, we despaired of life itself.
This was the apostle Paul who wrote nearly half of the New Testament, saying that he felt so overwhelmed, he didn’t think he could go on.
Here he had already told these people he would come.
He’d already made this commitment and these unexpected challenges came up. He could have thought, I can’t disappoint them.
They’re expecting me. What if they get upset? What if they don’t understand? But Paul knew his limits.
Yes he was powerful. Yes he wrote I can do all things through Christ.
Yes he prayed and prison doors flung open, but he understood this principle that it was up to him to take care of his physical and emotional well-being.
That he can’t operate at his best if he’s depleted, drained and worn out.
So he sent a letter telling them in effect, sorry I can’t come.
He could have had a hero mentality. They’re counting on me. I’m the one they look up to.
I can’t let them down but he took his cape off and said I can’t do it.
He was saying, you’ve seen the superman Paul, now you’re seeing the human Paul. I’m overwhelmed.
I’ve got to get replenished.
Once I get filled back up, healthy, whole, restored, then I’ll come visit with you.
There are times you have to be bold like Paul and say, no, I can’t do it.
I know it may hurt feelings. I know I’ve been there in the past.
I know I told you I would, but I need a break. I have to get refreshed.
Jesus did it. Paul did it. It’s okay if you do it. Don’t try to be Superman.
Superman is a fictitional character. Superman in real life would have had a nervous breakdown.
It’s okay to say no. That’s one of the most powerful words you can learn.
Now I know yes is exciting. We wanna do it all. Yes, I’ll work late.
Yes, I’ll be there for you. Yes, I’ll make sacrifices so you can go further.
But there will be times you have to say, sorry, I have to take care of me.
I have to protect my health. I have to let my mind rest. I have to release this stress.
Sometimes we’re holding on to things that are overwhelming us.
What you won’t say no to can end up killing you.
You’ve been there for everyone else, why don’t you be there for you? Why don’t you make yourself a priority?
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