Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. Proverbs 11:1, NKJV

Annette had always been a people pleaser. She always said “yes” when someone asked her to do something and she had a huge servant’s heart. But saying yes to everything left her life unbalanced. After spending time in prayer one day, Annette felt led to start giving God the first ten minutes of her time at school each morning.

So before school started, she would go into her dark room and turn on the small lamp on her desk. She had a Bible and journal which always sat on top of her desk to constantly remind her who was really in charge of the classroom and school. In her journal, she would write Bible verses that stood out to her and/or brief letters to and from God.

One morning, she randomly opened her Bible and began reading aloud the first thing her eyes were drawn to, Proverbs 11:1, “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” As she read it, her heart broke. She knew her life had been out of balance for months. She had been pouring more and more time into her work and neglecting God and her family commitments. Her work had been an anchor weighing her down and stealing her joy until she had started giving the first ten minutes of her morning to the Lord.

Then, Annette saw an asterisk by the verse and read the footnote at the bottom of the page. It explained how this verse was related to merchants in biblical times who sold things in the open markets. They brought their own scales to weigh their products and some of the merchants cheated their customers by using inaccurate scales. Annette realized that she had been cheating and stealing time from both God and her family. That truth cut like a knife deep into her heart. She had no idea how important balance was to the Lord. Above all, she really wanted to please God.

Today, I encourage you to consider if the balance in your life is pleasing to the Lord. Are your daily plans and tasks good ideas or God’s ideas?

Lord, we confess our imbalance. Forgive us. Please show us how to balance our relationship with You, our homes, careers, and communities. Amen.  

Copyright Don Clark.

Don is a member and a retired elementary special education teacher. He recently retired from his role as the Houston area director for Christian Educators.