Margin
It's popular to talk about "creating Margin". It means to find space where you can breath.Where you can think.Where you can set aside time from the doing of life, to spend time considering the being of life.
It is the space between our loads and limits.
The world portrays the "super-person" ideal. Perfectly presented, this financially successful individual walks through life with fulfilling relationships, aware of their future goals and how to reach them while still maintaining all present commitments, is with the family at all appropriate moments while somehow never leaving the office, but remains fit by regularly setting time aside for exercise and contributes to the community by volunteering at some worth cause.
For the rest of us, just reading this description can be daunting!
What is often missed in these super people's lives, and sadly in many lives is time with our creator.
It is for the follower of Christ this act, this relationship which will allow margin to be created. It is this which will allow us to see which loads we carry are legitimate and to know what limits we should push and which we should give away.
If Jesus warns ""No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."-Matt 6:24; Then we cannot claim to be following the wisdom of God and spend time at work over time with Him.
The world would have us running at 110%, we should be aiming to fill 80% of our time. It is this discipline which allows us two things.
1. The ability to help others and have the time to do it
2. The ability to adjust to the ebbs and flows of life, as circumstances change, as demands of time increase, we can use the space we have, the reserve we have built, to manage this change, then adjust back to a normal level.
The key is the word "normal"
If we have accepted that frenetic, unending, spiritless activity is normal then we will never desire to change it, but if we are willing to understand that is not the life Jesus has told us that we are able to have then we can seek to create margin.
It is the space between our loads and limits.
The world portrays the "super-person" ideal. Perfectly presented, this financially successful individual walks through life with fulfilling relationships, aware of their future goals and how to reach them while still maintaining all present commitments, is with the family at all appropriate moments while somehow never leaving the office, but remains fit by regularly setting time aside for exercise and contributes to the community by volunteering at some worth cause.
For the rest of us, just reading this description can be daunting!
What is often missed in these super people's lives, and sadly in many lives is time with our creator.
It is for the follower of Christ this act, this relationship which will allow margin to be created. It is this which will allow us to see which loads we carry are legitimate and to know what limits we should push and which we should give away.
If Jesus warns ""No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."-Matt 6:24; Then we cannot claim to be following the wisdom of God and spend time at work over time with Him.
The world would have us running at 110%, we should be aiming to fill 80% of our time. It is this discipline which allows us two things.
1. The ability to help others and have the time to do it
2. The ability to adjust to the ebbs and flows of life, as circumstances change, as demands of time increase, we can use the space we have, the reserve we have built, to manage this change, then adjust back to a normal level.
The key is the word "normal"
If we have accepted that frenetic, unending, spiritless activity is normal then we will never desire to change it, but if we are willing to understand that is not the life Jesus has told us that we are able to have then we can seek to create margin.
Comments