This was almost undoable

"Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.”

Matthew 14:10–23

My Undoable Schedule 

Not long ago, I found myself confronted with a schedule that was almost undoable. A good friend reminded me, "Well brother, these were all your choices!" He is right.

Life is just busy. We have work, church, family obligations, etc. Even good things in our lives, out of balance, can leave us feeling overwhelmed, tired, and unfulfilled. When we’re not looking, the world presses in from many angles. If we don’t have boundaries and priorities, a vision for where we are headed, and a plan for staying on track, we will find ourselves drifting. The result is no margin.

Examples of Margin

Margin, in printing, is the space on the edge of the page where there is no text. White space. If there was no margin on the page, the words would be stretched to the very top and bottom and spill over the sides. Without margin, our lives can be like the page–stretched to the edges of our time, money, and energy.

I found this quote from a guy named Dr. Richard Swenson who wrote a book called Margin:

“The conditions of modern-day living devour margin… Marginless is being 30 minutes late to the doctor’s office because you were twenty minutes late out of the hardware store because you were ten minutes late dropping the kids at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from the gas station—and you forgot your wallet. Margin, on the other hand, is having breath left at the top of the staircase, money left at the end of the month, and sanity left at the end of adolescence.

Marginless is being asked to carry a load fifty pounds heavier than you can lift; margin is a friend to carry half the burden. Marginless is not having time to finish the book you’re reading on stress; margin is having the time to read it twice.”

A Great Example

Jesus, who was God in the flesh, intentionally set an example of creating margin. In the book of Matthew, there is a great example of this and how Jesus was able to stay focused on his purpose because of his emphasis on margin.

[King Herod had] John beheaded in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’ ‘We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered. ‘Bring them here to me,’ he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.” – Matthew 14:10–23

Life was pressing in around Jesus as people heard about the works He was doing, and he was probably physically drained. Jesus’ cousin John had just been beheaded, which was emotionally draining. He tried to find a quiet place, but the crowds followed him.

Our lives are much like this: people press on us, wanting more from us, oblivious to our lack of margin. Just like Jesus needed margin, we do too. The challenge for some of us is that, even if we do manage to find some margin, we feel guilty about it. We give in to the lie that “there is too much to do–I cannot rest,” and fill up our margin with more stuff.

So, what to do?

How about learning how to say no with grace to things that you really don’t want to do or don’t line up with your top priorities? How about a little planning?

Margin is knowing you will need to leave a little early to get gas before you go to work, or that you need to work ahead on a project because you will not have time later in the week. Also, don’t just plan for the work; block off some time to rest and recharge. How about deciding on what is a non-negotiable? Time with your kids, your spouse, the Lord.

Margin isn’t just a nice thing; it’s a necessity. Thanks for investing some margin to read this!

Larry Martin

MD5 Facilitator