Day 6 Stretching Limits

John 4:25

The Samaritan woman’s patience with this stranger always strikes me as interesting. No doubt she came to the well to get the water she needed for the day’s household chores. She had meals to prepare and clothes to wash, and the day was already half gone.

Yet she took the time to talk with Jesus.

Unfortunately, we sometimes miss the invitation to sit with Jesus because we are stretched to the limit and miss the prompting to move purposefully in a new direction. We have only so much time each day and throughout our lives to do what really matters. Yet we heap upon ourselves unreasonable expectations to try to do everything and be everything to everyone. We stretch limits as if they are elastic bands. But those limits are the naturally occurring circumstances in our lives that set constraints on what we can do, how much we can do, and how frequently we can do these things before they’ll hinder our mental, emotional, or physical health.

Though I never want to be limited in my thinking, I recognize naturally occurring limits are our God-given friends.

For example, there are twenty-four hours in a day, no more and no less. Sister leaders, we need to stop trying to cram twenty-five hours of work into one day, ignoring biological, relational, and recharging needs. When we continually stretch the limits in our lives, we experience chronic stress and eventually become overwhelmed. We can’t lead well in that state.

We also face other limits.

Aging is a limit. As we traverse each decade, we slow down a little. The pace we kept at twenty-five is not the same pace most of us can keep at forty-five or sixty-five. It’s not just about growing older; it’s about growing in wisdom and learning to do things smarter.

Time and space are limits. Each of us can be in only one place at one time. We must stop overcommitting, adding multiple engagements to the same spot in our calendars, and sitting in on two Zoom calls simultaneously. Overcommitting ultimately serves to disappoint others and heaps guilt upon us.

Death is another limit. I suppose it is the ultimate earthly limit; we have only so much time in this world to make a difference. We must be mindful of fully living out our purpose and passion daily to avoid getting mired in the “stuff” that distracts and detracts us from leading a life of significance.

Now that we’ve looked at why we might need a change, let’s reimagine our leadership so we can focus on leading well.