I Traded the Sin of Busyness for Guilt

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the queen of overcommitment.  The problem is, I have way too many interests, and I try to be involved in all of them to a fault.  This past year God has been teaching me to be still and know that he is God.  I am learning that just because I don’t have something on my schedule, doesn’t mean I am available.

A wise man described this to me by talking about margins. When we write on lined paper, we don’t write from one end of the paper to the other, but rather from margin to margin.  Have you ever wondered why we do this?  It is so that our words are readable.  Without margins, our eyes cannot focus and reading becomes near impossible.  In the same way, we need margins in our lives — space to remain unfilled and silent.

So, being a “good Christian” I decided to put these lessons into practice and I began saying no so that I could prioritize and focus on what God is calling me to do.  I don’t know what I was expecting.  Applause from heaven.  Praise of man…not really, but I didn’t expect to be overcome with feelings of guilt.

“If you were any kind of Christian you’d . . . (fill in the blank).

I know that this is not the voice of God, yet it is so loud, there are times when it is difficult to tune it out.  I am sharing this with you because I know that I am not the only one who deals with this.

God’s love is not conditional of our works; He loves because He is love.  Period.

When we realize that guilt is not from God, and that he desires a relationship with us more than our works, we will be content to rest in his presence.  Don’t own that guilt!  Be intentional with your time…each moment is a special time that only happens once.