Over three years ago I launched a Monday morning meditation to remind 'on-the-job agents' of the Kingdom that they can actually ENJOY and MAXIMIZE their strategic assignments in the workplace. Last Monday was the first in three years that I missed writing a T.G.I.M. meditation. I must admit that I was happily away from any laptop or modem, skiing the snowy slopes of New England, enjoying an extended weekend skiing with my son and good friends from our faith community.

Whereas the T.G.I.M. regularly sings the praises of the workweek, may I take a few moments to add my voice to the choir that praises the weekend (the T.G.I.F. crowd). It's not that we despise or turn our backs on our God-given vocation. (To see our jobs merely as a means for sustaining a certain lifestyle leads to materialism. To see our careers as the essential component for self-actualization leads to idolatry). Our Great Designer has given us a capacity for glorifying Him with practical work and an inbuilt need for the rhythm of rest. The busy text of our lives needs sufficient white space for His editorial comments and needed corrections.

We need to reset the margins in our lives. Margins refer to the designated space between our present load of activities and our human limits. We may not like to admit it, but God created us with limits - a limited supply of time, a limited number of hours in a day, and only so much energy to expend. Too often we crowd each day to its limit allowing no space for the unplanned and unexpected; no room for spontaneous and creative initiatives; no time for building meaningful relationships, spiritual devotion, and depth of an inner life of character. We often cut off opportunities for others to speak into our lives. It is possible to leave no room for the presence and wisdom of God.

How do you know when there is not enough margin in your life? When you overextend beyond your supply line. When your load extends beyond your limits. You become irritable, anxious, and disorganized. You have a need to redefine the margins in your life when important relationships are being sacrificed on the altar of careerism; when cherished ideals are being sacrificed for materialistic ambitions.

The Scriptures tell us that each of us have a measure of grace and a measure of faith (Ephesians 4:7; Romans 12:3). To go beyond the measure of God's grace is to sabotage His work with our own. To exceed the supply line of God's appointed measure of faith, turns faith into presumption. Continual overload in our lives leads to burnout.

Think about resetting the margins in your life. Perhaps you need greater margin in your finances so that your spending doesn't extend beyond your income. I started writing this piece while flying from Boston to Los Angeles with a stop-over in Memphis. The airlines leave themselves a margin of at least 28 minutes for changes, and that is pushing it because of so many possibilities for unforeseen delays. While typing on my laptop a warning alarm sounded telling me that the battery power was coming to an end. I need to recognize the limits of my energy supply, save my files and shut down the computer for a while until I can plug in somewhere and recharge the batteries. We need to take necessary precaution or we will soon find ourselves depleted. As human beings we do not have gauges or alarms to signal the depletion of our resources, but we would be wise to take the warnings of a stressed out lifestyle. What changes can you make in your schedule to give you a little more margin for the important, the spontaneous, and the creative? What can I do to be sure that my emotional, physical and spiritual energy resources are sufficiently recharged? Make an action list today. Renegotiate for greater margin to ensure that you are sufficiently refreshed physically, emotionally, and spiritually to serve in the full measure of God's grace.

David MacAdam, Pastor/Teacher
New Life Community Church