Do you remember when we wrote on actual paper. You know with blue lines and a pink lined margin?
The purpose of the margin was in case you ran out of space for a word. It let you know time was running out, it's the end of the line...literally. Then it gave just enough room to finish the word you were on.
I need a pink line in my life.
I need it to loudly proclaim, time is running out and you've run out of space for all the things you have to do. Though I do have a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn't listen.
How do we create margin when our days are so full they are spilling over?
I wish I had the perfect answer for you or a simple equation you could follow.
I don't. This is the question I am asking God right now.
He answered this morning.
He reminded me of a verse that I've written often and spoken about more times that I can remember. It's a verse I love because of the picture it paints. I needed to hear God say it to me again.
"Every morning you'll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend." Psalm 5:3 MSG
God is asking for the pieces. Only He knows where all my pieces go, and even though right now I feel like I have too many pieces, He can make them fit. I spend too much time analyzing the pieces and moving them around. I manipulate the pieces and play "what if" with them. These are distractions, they only leave me feeling less in control. So, here is my answer: I sacrifice them. I just give them to God right up on that altar. I put them in His hands and ask Him to move them.
I realize this is an extra step, but I keep finding that it is the only one that matters.
When I take the time to bring all the pieces of my life to God, He knows I am sacrificing my control. That is a pleasing sacrifice to Him. It's also a sacrifice of my time as I sit in stillness listening for what He says.
So be still. Create your own margin wherever you are right now. Stop the flow of busyness that threatens to run right off the page. Ask God. Show Him the pieces. He will save time for you. He will help you with all the decisions I can't (and wouldn't have time to help you with anyway). He has time. He made it. Go sit with Him inside it. That's where I am headed.