I’ve been working off a master “to do” list for over a month now, life has been that busy. I had six writing deadlines to finish on April 1, alone, and felt a lot of pressure to finish up before I leave on a quick trip.
Stress had built in countless ways.
It’s all ironic since my 2011 resolution was to put some “margins” back into my life. Maybe after Easter . . .
I read Richard Swenson’s book Margin, probably twenty years ago and the idea resonated: we need to make space in our life for down time, and for an emotional area to “spill into” when we have crises in our life. God did not design us to run at adrenaline speed all the time. He designed our bodies, souls, hearts and minds to take time and rest. Remember the Sabbath?
I did remember the Sabbath Thursday morning when I rushed through aerobics, dashed down breakfast, hurried to walk the dog with a friend, zipped in for a shower, got myself signed into a hotline, and then looked at my computer. I had one day to finish off a lot of stuff. My heart beat faster. I also needed to pray and read the Bible. What to do first?
Psalm 37:5 says, “ Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.”
My husband knew all about the pressures in my life, because he saw the list and he heard me talk about them. God knew them too, for the same reason. But had I really sat down to listen to his advice?
I picked up my devotionals: My Utmost for His Highest, Praying for Your Husband (I pray the prayer at the end of the chapter that corresponds to the numerical date) and my Bible. I read my way through the important parts (!), and then sat to listen.
Birds whistled in the yard outside, the budding leaves of the Japanese maple stirred in a breeze. The dog shifted, an ambulance went by and my soul eased.
I didn’t set the timer for an alloted time to pray–which I’d been doing lately. I decided to let the Spirit take me where it would. People slipped across my brain and I prayed for them. Ideas floated past and I let them sink. It felt heavenly.
When I got out of my chair an hour later, I had a new idea for the manuscript that really needed to be finished–one I hadn’t contemplated before. I knew what I was doing with it and where it was going. I still had to sit down and pound the keys for six hours, but it felt so much more right.
I wasn’t buffeted by “to dos,” anymore.
The next day I wrote the last five things in two hours–it flowed.
You know the drill.
“Cast your cares upon him, seek ye first the kingdom of God. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”
He’s a good God, who loves us even when we leave him little margin to spare. When we crawl into his lap, he embraces us, dusts us off and sends us back along the paths he has ordained for us.
Thanks be to God.
Great reminder, Michelle. I love Richard Swenson’s concept of Margins. It has helped me avoid many over-commitments in life. A former colleague used to ask herself two questions before accepting any invitations: 1) Do I have to do this? 2) Do I want to do this? If the answer to either was yes, she’d go ahead and do it. If the answer was no to both questions, she had freedom to decline. That’s been a great help to me in life.