Creating a Little Margin

Its incredible how often we live an inch from disaster. We push ourselves physically until we are almost ready to drop. We spend everything that comes in (if not more). We allow ourselves to be drained emotionally until there is little left to give. We steal time from our spiritual life until it is almost not there. We max out, stress up, push, throw caution to the wind, and delay doing what we really need desperately to do. Then we wonder what has happened when one more thing comes along and something in us or around us collapses.

Margin is the little extra we plan into something to allow for the inevitable miscalculation, overload, or contingency. Engineers design with margin. Who'd want to cross a bridge that was designed to be just barely strong enough to take the anticipated load? Who'd want to fly in an airplane in which the engines were calculated to be only strong enough to handle routine flying? Yet the same engineers who are so careful on the job can fail to build margin into their personal lives, and they aren't alone.

What's margin in life? It is leaving time in your day to get enough sleep and to have a bit of quality time with the Lord, the kids, and the spouse. It is living on 90% of your income (after your tithe, of course), and putting that extra away for when the washing machine quits on you, or one of the kids breaks his glasses, or the car breaks down. It is spending a little more time in Christian worship, fellowship, and personal devotions than you think you absolutely 'need' to do. It is giving yourself a break from stressful relationships and situations long enough to get emotionally recharged. It's creating a cushion between what you could do and what you actually do.

Margin is critical but easily overlooked and hard to maintain. Building margin into life requires disciple, self-control, and some re-orienting of how we respond to demands and pressures and our own desires. Jesus, the Bible tells us, often rose early so he could get alone with his Father. He sent his disciples ahead so he could have time to pray. He occasionally left the crowds behind so he could spend special time with his disciples. He did not let activity and other people fully take over his priorities and time. He kept himself physically, emotionally, and spiritually balanced and did not allow himself to live right on the edge of collapse.

In America people living with margin are often looked at as having something wrong with them. Everyone else is living within an inch of disaster, why aren't you? Maybe you are lazy, or uncommitted, or uncaring, or lack ambition. But maybe you are trying to be careful, wise, and balanced. Maybe you know what can happen when a person hits emotional or physical empty, when the bank account is exhausted, or when you've skimmed spiritually for too long.

How about you? How close are you to disaster? An inch? Back away. You need to change some priorities, redistribute your time, re-balance your budget, or carve out time for the Lord. You need to dial it back a bit and create a little margin in life.

The prudent sees the evil and hides himself,

But the naive go on, and are punished for it.

Proverbs 22:3 (NAS)