Margin

“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go 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 14:22-23).

“Mom, I don’t have any clean socks, and I need to leave for school now!”  I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled at 8:45 a.m., and while I was up early, I spent the morning working on various things, and allowed myself just enough time to get ready. There was no time to search for my teenage son’s socks, but I did it anyway. As I scurried around the house, looking for a clean, matching pair, my anxiety level rose, because I was now worried about my son being late to school, and about being late to my appointment. I left myself with no margin that morning.

In his book, Margin,Dr. Richard Swenson talks about the difference between margin, and being marginless. “Marginless is being thirty minutes late to the doctor’s office because you were twenty minutes late getting out of the bank because you were ten minutes late dropping the kids of 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.” When I read that statement, I knew Dr. Swenson was speaking directly to me. What about you?

We need to learn from Jesus. While he had people constantly pulling at him, he took time out to refresh, and reconnect with God. In Matthew 14, right after he fed 5000 people, Scripture says, “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.” It sounds like he abruptly ended the event so he could go up on the mountainside to pray by himself. He needed a breather with his Abby Daddy. Think about it; after the crowd heard Jesus’ extraordinary teaching, and witnessed great miracles, they probably wanted more of Jesus. They were still hanging out, and didn’t leave on their own. Jesus had to dismiss them to create some margin. To have margin, it is a discipline.

A friend of mine told me she was about to get ready to sit outside, and enjoy the first sunny day North Texas had in two weeks, when her daughter asked her to take her to Sonic. It was difficult, but she told her “no” and suggested her brother, who could drive, take her. It worked out. The daughter asked her brother, and he agreed, in exchange for a free soft drink! That is a perfect example of the discipline of creating margin.

When we schedule ourselves too tightly, any unexpected occurrence can throw us off. When I was a child, I used to play a game called “Tip-it.” It was a nerve-wracking balancing game. It had three different arms, with a circus acrobat balancing on the top. The object of the game was to place discs on each of the arms, without tipping it over. You could balance a lot of discs on there, but eventually, one little disc would send the acrobat flying off his perch.

And that’s the way it is in our lives. We can balance a lot of activities, but it only takes one to tip us over. Sometimes that results in anxiety; it might result in an emotional meltdown, or it might make us late all day.

Occasionally, I get it right. On Tuesday, I was out of town, and tired. I had a scheduled breakfast meeting at 7:45 in the morning, but needed to write a devotion for the Pearls of Promise website. Although I’d committed to writing a devotion on Tuesday’s I realized I could not do it. If I tried to put one together, it would have made me late to get ready, and late for my appointment, causing angst on my end, irritating my friend, and cutting our time together short, because I had another scheduled meeting at 10:00 a.m..

I let it go, so I had margin that morning with plenty of time to dress. I believe these devotions are inspired by God, so I also didn’t think it was right to say, “Hurry up, Lord, I have to get in the shower!”

Are you always running? Do you need to take time to breathe, slowly, and deeply? Do you lack margin?

I don’t think God intended for us to pack our lives so full, that we miss him in the middle of it. Create a window in your day to pray, or meditate. Read an inspirational book, or take a power nap. Then, if the unexpected knocks on your door, you are ready for it. (LBW)