Spiritual Equilibrium Part 1 Series

Spiritual Equilibrium: Part 1

Scriptures: Ephesians 6:12; Galatians 5:17; Matthew 4:1-4

The title of my message this morning is “Spiritual Equilibrium” and we will be dealing with this subject for the next two weeks.

Several years ago I developed some seasonal allergies that led to fluid building up in my inner ear. I knew something was off because when I moved my head too fast the room would continue to spin. When I was driving everything that I looked at seemed to move and if I moved my head too fast I became nauseated. When I went to the doctor to find out what was going on, they identified the problem and I was unable to drive for a week while the fluid slowly drained from my ears. Our inner ear plays a direct role in our equilibrium. If you recall from my message last week, I had Justin come up and stand on one foot with his eyes open. As longs as he had his eyes open he had no problem standing on one foot. Then I had him do it with his eyes close and you saw what happen. He started swaying and getting off balance and quickly opened his eyes to readjust himself. But it did not stop there. You all know how Justin hates to lose. Well he came into my office after Church saying that he could do it. I told him I would give him $50 if he could do it until I told him to stop. He tried again ad needless to say I did not have to pay him.

The reason that I knew I would not have to pay Justin is because the body’s balance system works through a constant process of position detection, feedback and adjustment using communication between the inner ear, eyes, muscles, joints and the brain. Deep inside the ear, positioned just under the brain, is the inner ear. While one part of the inner ear enables hearing, another part, called the vestibular system, is designed to send information about the position of the head (dynamic or static) to the brain’s movement control center, the cerebellum. Dynamic equilibrium lets us know the direction in which our head moves in three-dimensional space and also gives us information about rotation. Static equilibrium helps us to detect the positioning of our head relative to gravity; it helps us realize which way the head is tilted.

The inner ear balance mechanism works with the visual system (eyes and the muscles and parts of the brain that work together to let us see) to stop objects blurring when the head moves. It also helps us maintain awareness of positioning when, for example, walking, running or riding in a vehicle. In addition, sensors in the skin, joints and muscles provide information to the brain on movement, the position of parts of the body in relation to each other, and the position of the body in relation to the environment. Using this feedback, the brain sends messages to instruct muscles to move and make the adjustments to body position that will maintain balance and coordination. If the signal from one of the structures is inhibited, our equilibrium will be affected as signals from all is needed to maintain balance. This is why Justin (or anyone else) could not stand on one foot with his eyes closed and why my equilibrium was off when I had excess fluid on my ears. In both cases one of the sensory signals was being inhibited and could not fully communicate with the others causing the equilibrium to be off.

Equilibrium is defined as “a state of balance between opposing forces or actions that is either static (not moving) or dynamic (vigorous activity.)” In other words equilibrium means to have balance; you’re not too far to the right and you’re not too far to the left. This is what it means in natural terms. Spiritual equilibrium is a little bit different. We all know that in the spiritual realm there are opposing forces. Let me give you two examples. First we have an enemy who is actively opposing us. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places.” We have an enemy who we are in a constant battle with and in order for us to maintain “equilibrium” we have to constantly be on guard and ready to take action. Second our flesh is constantly warring with the Spirit. Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” As it relates to our flesh warring against the Spirit, keeping our spiritual equilibrium is totally up to us. While we can only respond to and always be prepared for whatever Satan throws against us, when it comes to our flesh warring against the Spirit, we control that. This is the area I want us to focus on this morning.