Making Space In A Crowded Life

Some of us have lives like our kids' motel room - so crowded that we are running out of space! Actually, we all have the same amount of "space" in our life - the same seven days, 168 hours in a week. But some of us have packed so much into our lives - maybe too much - there's no room left for an emergency, a crisis, a breakdown, an illness - or even to give God and the people we love the time they should have.

God has a thought-provoking challenge for us over-busy folks inI Thessalonians 4:11-12. It's our word for today from the Word of God. Here's the challenge: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands ... so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders." God is calling us to a life that is characterized by simplicity ... by clear priorities that act as a filtering system for what we say yes to and what we say no to ... by peace and focus.

And all of us need to take a giant step back and see if we've stuffed our life so full that it's actually shrunk our life rather than expanded it. This would be a great time to reprioritize - to set some boundaries - to make some space in our overcrowded life. I liken a lot of our lives to a glass that is full to the brim - it only takes a drop to make it spill. We need to be emptying out our glass a little so we've got room for all those unexpected things, those emergencies, those surprises that life constantly throws at us.

There are some practical steps you can take to get more control of your life. One is to sort out your over commitments - to begin to limit yourself to the things that only you can do. No, you don't just start bailing out of commitments that you've made, but you start making new commitments - and renewing old commitments - with new priorities. Another step is to control intrusions - to return your calls at a scheduled time, to protect your time with God and with your family - non-negotiables. It also helps to deliberate commitments before you make them - take time to pray over them, to seek the counsel of the important people in your life. Also, build in some "Murphy" time - you know, time for things to go wrong. Don't schedule wall-to-wall. And remember to put your timeouts and your family times in your calendar like you do all your other important commitments.

Opening up room in your life won't just happen. It takes some candid evaluation, some corrective action, and some courageous discipline. But it's worth it. You don't have to keep tripping over things in that room called your life - there will finally be room to move around and enjoy it!

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Today's Daily Wisdom is written by Ron Hutchcraft, based on his popular radio broadcast,"A Word With You"."A WORD WITH YOU" daily devotionals are now available via e-mail. To subscribe send a blank email to:awordwithyou-subscribe@hutchcraft.com,or to request the "Yours for Life" booklet, fill out the form on this site:http://www.gospelcom.net/rhm/yours/yflorder.html. Ron Hutchcraft Ministries has been on-line with Gospelcom since February, 1996, providingpractical answers to real life issues. (c) 2000 Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc.PO Box 400, Harrison AR 72602