{"id":901,"date":"2019-03-25T10:04:37","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901"},"modified":"2019-03-26T05:45:29","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T12:45:29","slug":"out-of-round-tire-cant-be-balanced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901","title":{"rendered":"Out-of-Round Tire Can\u2019t Be Balanced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For my birthday long ago, James\nbought a set of new tires for my car. Driving home with my practical gift, he\nnoticed a slight bump. After waiting a few days, he returned to the auto store\nto check it out and learned the tire was <em>out\nof round<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous!\u201d I said. Being\nan English major, I know stuff about grammar and language. Round is one of\nthose words incapable of comparison. If something\u2019s <em>round<\/em>, it can\u2019t be <em>more<\/em>\nround or <em>less<\/em> round. That doesn\u2019t\nqualify as <em>round<\/em>. I learned a round\ntire can indeed be <em>out of round<\/em>. My\nnew tire couldn\u2019t be balanced or fixed. It had to be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Years later I appreciated that experience after hearing someone say trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can\u2019t be done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\"><span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp9m6jT-ex&#038;text=Trying%20to%20balance%20life%20without%20Christ%20in%20control%20is%20like%20trying%20to%20balance%20a%20tire%20that%E2%80%99s%20out%20of%20round%E2%80%A6it%20can%E2%80%99t%20be%20done.&#038;via=DianneBarker12&#038;related=DianneBarker12' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can\u2019t be done. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp9m6jT-ex&#038;text=Trying%20to%20balance%20life%20without%20Christ%20in%20control%20is%20like%20trying%20to%20balance%20a%20tire%20that%E2%80%99s%20out%20of%20round%E2%80%A6it%20can%E2%80%99t%20be%20done.&#038;via=DianneBarker12&#038;related=DianneBarker12' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Christ is the source of a balanced life. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He called it the abundant life (John 10:10). I call it the\u00a0 maximum life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At\nage seven, when I called on Christ as my Savior, I didn\u2019t understand the\nconcept of complete surrender\u2014acknowledging Christ as Lord and master of my\nlife. I\u2019d left a successful career at the local newspaper to start a wonderful new\nlife-chapter\u2014motherhood. My parenting goal was perfection\u2014an unrealistic\nexpectation. Disappointed in myself and wondering how to access the patience\nand joy guaranteed to those who live by faith, I began searching for the\nsource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\ndiscovered those qualities are part of the cluster of fruit\u2014love, joy, peace,\npatience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and\nself-control\u2014produced by the Holy Spirit when we surrender absolute control of\nour lives (Galatians 5:22-23).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In prayer I placed my whole life in God\u2019s hands, trusting him to guide my steps and fulfill his purpose. Going forward, I wanted only to please the Lord, yet often I felt like a failure. He drew me close and let me know he didn\u2019t require perfection, only a heart wholly seeking him and willing to obey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<span class='bctt-click-to-tweet'><span class='bctt-ctt-text'><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp9m6jT-ex&#038;text=Obedience%20is%20only%20a%20problem%20when%20the%20Lord%20asks%20us%20to%20do%20something%20we%20don%E2%80%99t%20want%20to%20do.&#038;via=DianneBarker12&#038;related=DianneBarker12' target='_blank'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Obedience is only a problem when the Lord asks us to do something we don\u2019t want to do. <\/a><\/span><a href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.me%2Fp9m6jT-ex&#038;text=Obedience%20is%20only%20a%20problem%20when%20the%20Lord%20asks%20us%20to%20do%20something%20we%20don%E2%80%99t%20want%20to%20do.&#038;via=DianneBarker12&#038;related=DianneBarker12' target='_blank' class='bctt-ctt-btn'rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n<p>Obedience\nis only a problem when the Lord asks us to do something we don\u2019t want to do:\nlove our enemies, forgive because we are forgiven, put away anger, choose\nwholesome thoughts, count trials as joy, deny the flesh, rejoice in weakness,\npraise by a decision of the will. Those concepts aren\u2019t popular with our human\nnature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Struggling\nwith discouragement, negative thinking, anger, fear, low esteem, and\nforgiveness, I limped along faking joy. Learning to apply Scripture to my daily\nlife, I stopped depending on circumstances to bring me joy. Joy is what God\nbrings to my circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong><em>Getting God\u2019s perspective changed mine. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do we get his perspective? Spend time talking with God and reading his Word. Read the Bible as a love letter. It\u2019s our guide to knowing God intimately and our handbook for daily living. Read enough to get caught up in the story. While reading a familiar passage and knowing what happens next, sometimes I can hardly put it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reading\nis the beginning. Choosing to apply biblical teaching to our daily walk is\nlife-changing\u2026key to maximum living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are\nyou running low on faith? Here\u2019s a verse to memorize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><em>Ah,\nSovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><em>by\nyour great power and outstretched arm.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><em>Nothing\nis too hard for you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">Jeremiah 32:17 NIV<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now\u2026believe\nit! Apply it by repeating that truth to yourself in every circumstance! Nothing\nis too hard for God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Adapted\nfrom <em>I Don\u2019t Chase the Garbage Truck Down\nthe Street in My Bathrobe Anymore! Organizing for the Maximum Life<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a9\nDianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please tell me how God used a Scripture verse to encourage you in a hard place! And I&#8217;d be grateful if you would share this with your friend-list!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For my birthday long ago, James bought a set of new tires for my car. Driving home with my practical gift, he noticed a slight bump. After waiting a few days, he returned to the auto store to check it out and learned the tire was out of round. \u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous!\u201d I said. Being an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[314,312,313,9,311],"class_list":["post-901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-applying-scripture","tag-balancing-life","tag-christ-is-in-control","tag-dianne-barker","tag-out-of-round-tire-cant-be-balanced"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Out-of-Round Tire Can&#039;t Be Balanced<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can&#039;t be done.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Out-of-Round Tire Can&#039;t Be Balanced\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can&#039;t be done.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dianne Barker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dianne Barker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dianne Barker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dianne Barker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea590e3509988772b4e4f576abf6be1f\"},\"headline\":\"Out-of-Round Tire Can\u2019t Be Balanced\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\"},\"wordCount\":672,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"applying Scripture\",\"balancing life\",\"Christ is in control\",\"Dianne Barker\",\"Out-of-round tire can't be balanced\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\",\"name\":\"Out-of-Round Tire Can't Be Balanced\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can't be done.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Out-of-Round Tire Can\u2019t Be Balanced\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/\",\"name\":\"Dianne Barker\",\"description\":\"Author and Conference Speaker\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Dianne Barker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/diannebarker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/homepage-sidepic01.jpg?fit=113%2C127&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/diannebarker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/homepage-sidepic01.jpg?fit=113%2C127&ssl=1\",\"width\":\"113\",\"height\":\"127\",\"caption\":\"Dianne Barker\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea590e3509988772b4e4f576abf6be1f\",\"name\":\"Dianne Barker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2bb8aaedc0022bcca640805aa74a4d4eb76d586f875ad4fb73607876cddf84e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2bb8aaedc0022bcca640805aa74a4d4eb76d586f875ad4fb73607876cddf84e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dianne Barker\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Out-of-Round Tire Can't Be Balanced","description":"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can't be done.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Out-of-Round Tire Can't Be Balanced","og_description":"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can't be done.","og_url":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901","og_site_name":"Dianne Barker","article_published_time":"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00","author":"Dianne Barker","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dianne Barker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901"},"author":{"name":"Dianne Barker","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea590e3509988772b4e4f576abf6be1f"},"headline":"Out-of-Round Tire Can\u2019t Be Balanced","datePublished":"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901"},"wordCount":672,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["applying Scripture","balancing life","Christ is in control","Dianne Barker","Out-of-round tire can't be balanced"],"articleSection":["General"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901","url":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901","name":"Out-of-Round Tire Can't Be Balanced","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-03-25T17:04:37+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-26T12:45:29+00:00","description":"Trying to balance life without Christ in control is like trying to balance a tire that\u2019s out of round\u2026it can't be done.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=901#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Out-of-Round Tire Can\u2019t Be Balanced"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/","name":"Dianne Barker","description":"Author and Conference Speaker","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#organization","name":"Dianne Barker","url":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/","sameAs":[],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/diannebarker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/homepage-sidepic01.jpg?fit=113%2C127&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/diannebarker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/homepage-sidepic01.jpg?fit=113%2C127&ssl=1","width":"113","height":"127","caption":"Dianne Barker"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ea590e3509988772b4e4f576abf6be1f","name":"Dianne Barker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2bb8aaedc0022bcca640805aa74a4d4eb76d586f875ad4fb73607876cddf84e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a2bb8aaedc0022bcca640805aa74a4d4eb76d586f875ad4fb73607876cddf84e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dianne Barker"},"url":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9m6jT-ex","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":907,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}