From Burned Out to BlessedSample

The wisdom of margin

You can learn a lot from a piece of notebook paper. Just think of those little red lines near the left-hand side, the ones that create a margin. Why leave that space blank? Why not fill up a page from edge to edge?

Because margin leaves you room to add things you didn’t think of just yet. Or to edit or offer improvements to make your first draft better. Plus, the sight of a jam-packed page is visually stressful and unnerving. Seeing one makes you think, “This person needs help!”

How much margin is there in your life? If last week was a piece of paper, how much blank space was there? For too many of us, there is very little margin. No space to slow down, no time to be interrupted by someone’s urgent need, and no chance for God to edit our packed plans. We aren’t just busy. We are busy, busy, busy. And that makes me think, “We need help.”

Solomon wants to help. He wisely reminds us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is a time to work like crazy (semester exams, a newborn baby, Holy Week for those in ministry), and there is a time to go in late, leave early, and enjoy a blank day on the family calendar.

If you are overwhelmed with work these days, let your next piece of paper preach at you. Writing works best when there’s blank space. Life does too.

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