This post is part of a 31 day journey. See the rest of abide: love where you live right here.
Accepting that margin is part of abiding is a faith step. You have to believe what God has said about boundaries: that they are pleasant. There is something about our flesh that rages against the idea that we are limited, must be limited.
But if you’ve ever disrespected margin then you know that space and distance and edges in your life are your best protection against that bankrupt feeling. If your life lived out is a beautiful story that God is writing on a crisp white page and you disrespect the margins? Then all the lovely words He is using to build you and shape you and set you apart spill off the page and you become lost. You’ll neglect life-giving things for putting out fires and you’ll become awful fuzzy about what you are actually called to be and you might just buy into what the world says you should be. You’ll become a jumbled, fragmented, confused and confusing mess.
Where you live is God’s physical gift of margin to you. It is the place where you lean into who He has made you to be. It’s where you nurture your gifts. It’s where you allow Grace to be a balm to you. You know how long and how far you can go before you need to choose home again.
Margin is not an excuse to not to be going out. Margin is what makes going out possible. It’s the filling up, the boiling down, the concentrating that enables you to move into others. You respect margin so that you can step into your calling.
spot on, ellen. we felt it all too much last year and respecting the margin has brought such an undercurrent of peace to our home, a refilling to be what God has called us to be and do. love you!
an undercurrent of peace. love that.
I love this. I am contemplating just leaving a link to your site instead of writing my own this morning :) Really, very spot on and such a blessing for me to hear (or, should I say, read).
Yesterday I was catching up on my bible study homework for my group tonight. We’re doing Beth Moore’s study of James. One of her questions was along of the lines of – is there something we’ve always wanted and don’t have? You post today went with that question so well. We have boundaries and margins and He knows best. If we choose to go outside those boundaries, then we go against his perfect plan. Well spoken on your part.
you are so right. God’s design is safest, even though it often feels anything but.
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“Margin is not an excuse to not to be going out. Margin is what makes going out possible. It’s the filling up, the boiling down, the concentrating that enables you to move into others. You respect margin so that you can step into your calling.” ~ Really very powerful and something I need to think on. I am going to write it down.
~FringeGirl
Hi Ellen! I’m a new subscriber to sweet water; I found you through Nester. Your thoughts are resonating with me as I have been writing about order this month. Also, your verse for today is one of my absolute favs and the inspiration for the name of my blog, A House and Yard! I am looking forward to reading more in the coming days.
So true. We do need to accept our limitations as humans and let God be God.
You expressed this so beautifully! “Where you live is God’s physical gift of margin to you. It is the place where you lean into who He has made you to be. It’s where you nurture your gifts. It’s where you allow Grace to be a balm to you. You know how long and how far you can go before you need to choose home again.”
I know I am where God wants me to be. It just helps to hear another way of expressing it!
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Yes… I love your lines about disrespecting the margins on the story and how it gets jumbled… A fabulous way to express that! I wrote about boundaries today, too… Which makes me think that God is trying to tell me something!!! Lol :)
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