May 5. The Balance And Accountability Change.

I remember a particular flight once that I was on that got delayed. No, it was not weather or a mechanical issue. What else could it be? Fuel was the issue but maybe not what you think. It was not that we had too little, nor was it that we had too much. It was that our fuel was out of balance.

The culprit you see was the right wing was loaded, almost full while the center tank and the left wing were not. The plane was not balanced. What is not in balance in your company, on your team or in your family? We waited while a technician pumped fuel from the wing to the other wing.

Problem solved? Nope! The pilot then checked and found out that the main tank had too much. I guess it might have gotten overloaded moving from one side to the other. The balance still was not optimal, and he called in the pumper truck for that one also.

If things get dicey in the air it is too late to be having any mental energy focused on getting the plane prepared for an issue. The pilot wants the craft at peak performance every time it takes off. Where might your team be out of balance, not operating at peak performance?

As a leader and team member we can be in an accountability relationship to help one another come back to balance. I think of the playground when they had a see saw. You needed a partner to make it work. Who can you ask to help you be accountable? What can you do about it in the next seven days?

In John, chapter 4, we read about Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. She was a woman who was thirsty for living water. She probably had not been operating at peak performance because Jesus tells us that she had been married five times. She was currently not married to the man she was currently with.

We cannot know her circumstances completely but it sure sounds like we might agree that her balance needed some adjustments. What does Christ do when he encounters her? He offers her the ultimate balancing.

She claims that the Messiah is coming, and he clearly acknowledges that he is the Messiah with the "I am" statement. Her testimony to other Samaritans brings many others to a relationship with Christ. Where are you out of balance today; in your faith walk, in your relationship with Christ, and in relationship to his church?

Do you need to call in assistance like the pilot called in a technician or a pumper truck? We can choose to be accountable in our faith journey just as we can in any other part of our lives. We might bring others into a relationship with Christ as we get rebalanced and become accountable.

Why not? There is nothing wrong with our accountability helping others to grow in Christ at the same time. What can you do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Jesus, you can always balance the scales. It does not matter which scales I put into a state of flux, you know what needs done. Send the Holy Spirit to guide us and the teams that are in my life. Send the tools so that we might deploy them.

May it all be used to honor the Father and to bring others into a relationship with you. Send us loving, compassionate but strong accountability partners. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,