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Juggling Life
"God gave me a certain number of things to do in this life. Right now I'm so far behind that I'll never die!" Before a crowd stands a man with small objects in his hands. He faces the crowd, and as the laughter subsides, he continues speaking. "We've heard this joke many times. It speaks to us because it seems to capture how we live today. Busy, busy, busy, there's never enough time to do it all, and just as soon as we think things are under control, something new comes up. It's tempting to think that, if only we could simplify things enough, life would be easier. But in our hearts, we know that's not true. We can never simplify the surprises that come our way. So what can we do?" "Well, take this ball as an example:" He holds up a green ball. "This ball is green, like money. It reminds us of activities that relate to money. We have jobs, we go shopping, we have hobbies and entertainment, TV and movies." As he speaks, he rolls the ball around in his palm, and then starts tossing it up and down. It bounces off his palm, then the back of his hand, then the palm again. He begins to speak faster and faster. "We fix meals, go on vacations, and try to save some for a rainy day, balance the checkbook, pay bills, pay taxes, fix things, replace things, upgrade, modify, this, that… The list goes on and on. Trying to keep all this straight can take some doing." Now he tosses it from one hand to the other, sometimes bouncing. "With a little work, we may begin to feel that things are under control." His expression becomes one of skeptical confidence. The ball continues moving in ever more elaborate patterns, and then suddenly stops. "But suppose we throw something new into the mix." He holds up something that looks like a small soccer ball. "Suppose we have kids to take to sports, or who need help with school." He starts tossing both balls up and down, first one and then the other, one in each hand. "Or we have clubs, friends, parties, family members, …" Now he sometimes exchanges the balls from hand to hand, sometimes bouncing one again, sometimes both in one hand for a brief moment. The expression on his face becomes strained confidence, perhaps even pride. "…And maybe we can almost feel we're doing ok…" Suddenly, out of nowhere, something that looks like a Jello sea urchin comes flying toward him. "Hey!" All the balls fall to the ground. He picks them up and holds up the new one. It's a ball that's covered in thick rubber strings that stick out in all directions. "This is called a Koosh, and it represents the big, hairy problems that come at us when we least expect it. Or maybe the little hairy problems that upset our big plans. Or maybe it's just more of the same, the straw that broke the camel's back." He tries gamely to somehow handle all three objects. Bouncing, tossing, dropping and picking up. For brief moments things seem to work, then they just fall apart. "Now what do I do? Three objects, but only two hands. I don't know how long I can keep going like this…" With grim determination and a flurry of activity, he manages to juggle all three balls by switching the two in one hand from one hand to another. The strained expression on his face shows this is no easy task. Suddenly the Koosh collides with one of the others, and all three balls land on the ground. For a moment, his head hangs down, and he looks totally dejected. Then he looks up at the crowd. "I need some help. But virtually everyone is in the same situation. If only there was one person who could really keep it together, who I could lean on." He smiles. "But of course, there is! The One who created everything can certainly help us with our lives. God knows how hard it is, but He knows the answers, too. And He's always available for us to lean on, and to guide us." He stoops down and picks up the three balls, and starts juggling all three effortlessly, while continuing to talk. "That one person we can count on is God's Son, Jesus. It's through faith in Him that we gain a relationship with God. And with that relationship, He promises to be will us always. That doesn't mean we won't still have plenty of things in life to juggle, but that we will have His help." The man weaves through pattern after pattern. Sometimes the balls go up and down like a pair of columns, sometimes side-to-side in a perpetual cascade. Sometimes they pass each other, sometimes move in a circle. All the while his expression remains calm, relaxed, smiling. Suddenly he drops. But his expression never changes as he bends down, picks them up, and resumes juggling. "…And because we're never perfect, life will still have a fair number of drops. But God's grace is sufficient to pick us back up and help us continue on…" Without missing a beat, the patterns become even more fluid, with crossing arms and all three balls intricately weaving around. With a flourish, he stops. "So while we may never be as carefree as we'd like, as we allow Jesus in our lives, He promises to always be there for us."
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