Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:12] Welcome back to another weekday podcast. I'm so glad you're here today. I don't know if you've been to Costco lately where you tried to pack your car after a Costco run. It's that moment where you're standing there, you're looking at the trunk, convinced that somehow, through the miracle of geometry, that you can make it all fit. You've got 30 rolls of paper towels, a kayak, a TV, enough stacks to survive the apocalypse. You push, you rearrange, you pray. And right when you think you've got it, the trunk pops open and half of it falls out. Now that, honestly, that's what life feels like when we run without margin. We keep cramming more in, like more tasks and more commitments, more screens, more expectations. Until something spills over. And usually what spills first is our peace. Paul writes this in Philippians 4, verse 7. He says, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, that phrase guard your hearts and minds reminds me that peace isn't a passive feeling, it's a powerful force. But here's what we forget. Sometimes peace actually needs space to do its work. Now it can't protect what's already packed to the brim. When every inch of your schedule and your soul is full, anxiety becomes the only thing that fits. That's why Proverbs 4:23 says this guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.
[00:01:28] If your heart is the wellspring of your life, peace is the filter that keeps the water pure. And that filter can only function when there's flow, when your life has room for breath. Now here's the thing that I've learned. God's peace can't fill what's already been full. You can't be guarded by peace if you never slow down long enough to let it stand watch. We talk a lot about time management, but what we really need is soul management.
[00:01:53] So as you think about December, here's some ways that I would suggest you you protect the margin in your life. Number one is that boundaries are actually holy work. Say no to good things so that you can say yes to the right things. Every yes carries a cost. And sometimes peace is the price we pay when we don't count it. Boundaries are like fences. They don't imprison you, they protect what matters inside. You don't have to attend every event or reply to every request. Sometimes obedience looks like rest.
[00:02:22] Number two. Make. Make white space sacred. When was the last Time you scheduled nothing on purpose. If your schedule doesn't have breathing room, your heart won't either. White space is where God whispers. You can't hear him over constant noise, so start small. Start with five minutes in the morning without your phone. Or one evening a week where you don't fill every hour. And it's amazing how peace returns when you give it a place to land. Number three, stop carrying everything.
[00:02:50] If you feel weighed down, it might be because you're lugging around things that God never asked you to carry. Control, comparison, other people's expectations. None of those fit well in the trunk of your soul. Remember what Jesus said. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. If it feels heavy all the time, it's probably not His. Number four, protect your Sabbath. Rest is not laziness, it's obedience. Sabbath reminds us that God is God and we're not. And when you rest, you're declaring that he can handle what you can't. It's not wasted time. It's worship in motion.
[00:03:24] Then number five, declutter your inner world. Sometimes the problem isn't the pace of our lives. It's actually the noise that's in our heads. Worry, replayed conversations, mental to do lists. They fill the silence where peace is supposed to live. So take time to pray honestly. Write things down. Talk it out with someone safe. Get the clutter out so that Christ can move in. Now. One of the ways you know that you're running without margin is when small things start to feel big. That slow cashier that ruins your day. That text without an emotion emoji that feels like rejection. A little traffic turns into full blown frustration when your soul's capacity shrinks. Peace is often the first thing to disappear.
[00:04:02] But the truth is, the opposite is also true. When you slow down, when you create space, even those ordinary moments can start to feel sacred. The laughter around the dinner table, the stillness of a quiet morning. The way gratitude sneaks up on you when you least expect it. That's the fruit of margin.
[00:04:18] Peace doesn't just appear. It settles in when it has somewhere to stay. So maybe today, before the rush hits you, take inventory, look at your life and ask, where am I? Overstuffed? And then start unpacking. Cancel the unnecessary, simplify the complicated. And most of all, stop apologizing for needing room to breathe. And here's the truth. When you protect your margin, you protect your peace. And when you protect your peace, you protect your witness. People around you don't need to see another exhausted believer. They need to see? See someone who's calm doesn't make sense. Someone whose peace is guarded by a presence greater than their circumstance. The world will keep trying to speed you up, but the spirit keeps inviting you to slow down. And somewhere in that space, you'll rediscover what Paul promised, that peace that truly passes understanding.
[00:05:09] So before you rush off to the next thing, take a breath. Ask God to guard your heart, expand your margin, and remind you that he's near. Because here's the truth. Peace. It needs space to stay. Have a great day. We'll see you back here for tomorrow's weekday podcast.
