“I have learned that everything has limits.”
Psalm 119:96 (GNT) If you want to build margin in your life so that you can do the work God meant for you to do, you have to remember that you are only human. You are not a god. You are not invincible. You have limits! Psalm 119:96 says, “I have learned that everything has limits” (GNT). God is the author of your limitations. He put them there for your good—because he loves you. So rather than fighting your limits, you need to accept your limits. Sadly, as human beings we’re not very adept at recognizing our limits. We constantly overestimate our abilities and underestimate obstacles and how much time it will take to do something. On top of that, we live in a culture that constantly tells us, “You can do it all! You can have it all! You can be whatever you want!” But it’s not true. You can be all that God wants you to be, but you cannot be whatever you want to be. There are limits in your life. In the first place, you have physical limits. You can’t go six months without food, no matter how much you talk yourself into it. Even the most powerful positive thinking can’t overcome your physical limits. You also have emotional limits. These are much harder for you to recognize in your own life. Many people try to carry both their own problems and the problems of people around them. But how many people can you carry emotionally? How many of their problems can you handle? Probably not as many as you think. You have mental limits too. The problem is that the media constantly pumps new information into your mind through radio, TV, and the Internet. As a result, many people around the world are mentally on overload. They can’t handle any more. And, of course, you have time limits. No matter how many time-management seminars you attend, you’ll never have more than 24 hours in a day. And you’ll always have to sleep for part of that time. You might be thinking, “It would really be nice if God would warn me when I’m reaching my limit.” God has given you a warning light! It has different names: pain, fatigue, stress, loss of joy, irritability. When you feel any of these things, you’re on overload; you have exceeded some kind of limit in your life. So how do you build margin in your life? The starting point for building margin is to realize you need margin because you have limits. You cannot just keep cramming your life full of things that are not important and do not help you accomplish your purpose. Ask God to give you the wisdom to recognize your limits. Then start building margin into your life—and experience the joy that comes when you’re not living on overload.
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“Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!”
Philippians 4:4 (NLT) The Apostle Paul says, “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NLT) He doesn’t say you should be joyful only in good times. He says you should be full of joy always. But how can you do that? The Bible teaches that—even when times are tough—you can be joyful if you follow these four simple strategies: Thank God in all things. When you pray, do it with thanksgiving. The healthiest human emotion is gratitude. It actually increases your immunities. It makes you more resistant to stress and less susceptible to illness. People who are grateful are happy. But people who are ungrateful are miserable because nothing makes them happy. They’re never satisfied. It’s never good enough. But if you cultivate an attitude of gratitude—of being thankful in every circumstance—your stress will lessen. Don’t worry about anything. Worrying doesn’t change anything. It’s stewing without doing. No one is born a worrier. Worry is a learned response. You learned it from your parents. You learned it from your peers. You learned it from experience. That’s good news. The fact that worry is learned means it can also be unlearned. How do you unlearn it? Jesus says in Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (NIV). In our culture, we might say it like this: Don’t open your umbrella until it starts raining. Or, in other words, live one day at a time. Pray about everything. Instead of worrying, use your time to pray. If you prayed as much as you worried, you’d have a lot less to worry about. Is God interested in your car payments? Yes, he’s interested in every detail of your life. And because of that, you can take any problem to God that you face. Think about the right things. If you want to reduce the level of stress in your life, you must change the way you think, because the way you think determines how you feel. And the way you feel determines how you act. The Bible teaches that, if you want to change your life, you need to change what you’re thinking about. This involves a deliberate, conscious choice to think about the right things. You need to choose to think about positive things and focus on God’s Word. What is the result of not worrying, praying about everything, giving thanks, and focusing on the right things? Paul says, “You will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NLT). “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
Philippians 4:8 (NKJV) God’s recipe for happiness isn’t a one-shot formula. It’s something you need to follow every day: Worry about nothing, pray about everything, thank God for anything—and, lastly, keep your mind on the right things. If you want to be happy, don’t fill your mind with lies. Don’t fill it with garbage. Instead, fill it with things that inspire you and make you a better person. The Bible says, “I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes (Psalm 101:3 GW). Does that mean God doesn’t want you to have fun? No, of course not. He says it for your own good, because he knows what will truly make you happy. What do you think about the most in your spare time? The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts. One practical way to keep your mind on the right things is to not be critical—to avoid putting people down. Instead, think good things about others. If you can’t think good things, just don’t think about them. The Bible says, “Whatever things are of good report . . . meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NKJV). I’d like to build a church where people are always giving a “good report” about each other. You’re at the grocery store and someone asks you, “You know so and so?” And you say, “Yes, they’re a fine person.” That’s giving a good report. God’s formula for happiness is this: Worry about nothing, pray about everything, thank God for anything, and keep your mind on the right things. If you follow it, the Bible promises, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV). Who’s the main ingredient of this formula? It’s Jesus Christ. Without him, the happiness formula will just flop. True happiness is the result of having a right relationship with Jesus. “A merciful person helps himself, but a cruel person hurts himself.”
Proverbs 11:17 (GW) God set up the world with universal principles. One of those principles is that the more you help other people, the more you will succeed and the happier you will be. Happiness doesn’t come from living for yourself. Happiness comes from giving your life away and being merciful. Proverbs 11:17 says, “A merciful person helps himself, but a cruel person hurts himself” (GW). That’s another one of those universal principles: You get what you sow in life. The greatest example of this in the Bible is the story of Job, who lost literally everything—his health, family, job, and wealth. His friends came to him in his greatest hour of need. But did they show him mercy? No! They judged, criticized, and second guessed him. They kept telling him what he’d done wrong. “It’s your own fault,” they said. The great turnaround in Job’s life occurred not when he thought about himself but when he mercifully prayed for the people who were criticizing him: “When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his wealth and happiness! In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!” (Job 42:10 TLB). Do you too show mercy to others—even the ones who criticize and judge you? You can go through life as a judgmental person, or you can go through life as a merciful person. If you choose to condemn and judge, then you’re going to make yourself and everyone around you miserable. It’s your choice. You can be an agent of judgment in the world, or you can be an agent of mercy. When you choose mercy, life will be a whole lot more enjoyable for you and for the people around you. Jesus says in the Beatitudes, “Happy are the kind and merciful” (Matthew 5:7 TLB). Do you want to be happy? Then be merciful. “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.”
Romans 8:38-39 (TLB) No matter how bad life gets, you can rest in one important truth: God won’t stop loving you. You’ll have things go right. You’ll have things go wrong. But God’s love will never end—you can count on that. That truth should be one of the most important sources of joy in your life! The Bible says it like this in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us” (TLB). That’s good news. When you put your hand in God’s hand, he grabs it and won’t let go. God holds on to you with all he has. You’ll have times in your life when you’ll want to let go of God’s hand. You’ll want to give up your commitment to Christ when times get tough. But God won’t let go of you—ever. Once you put your hand in his, it’s there to stay. If you could earn your salvation by working for it, you could lose it the moment you stopped working for it. But you didn’t earn your relationship to God. It was a free gift. Once it has been given, it can’t be taken back. That’s an unimaginable source of joy for the believer. “You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it.”
James 4:2 (NLT) One of the biggest causes of quarreling in your family, with your friends, or at your work is that you expect people to fill needs in your life that only God can fulfill. This is often most obvious in marriage, but it’s true in every relationship. You find people you can trust and who know you well. So you start looking to them to keep you emotionally and spiritually fulfilled. It’s common for people to get married and think their spouse should and will meet all their needs. After all, you complete each other, right? But that’s just unrealistic, unfair, and only setting you up for massive frustration? Your spouse is not God. Your best friend is not God. Your co-workers are not God. None of them know you like God does. None of them can provide for you like he can. They are broken human beings, just like you! It’s time to change your expectations so your frustration doesn’t lead to more conflict and quarreling in your relationships. So, what should you do instead of looking to someone else to fulfill every emotional, spiritual, and physical need you have? You should pray about it. “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (James 4:2 NLT). When you expect other people to meet your needs instead of God, it leads to frustration. And frustration leads to quarreling. If you’re not praying and asking God to provide for your needs, then you’re going to spend more time quarreling. If you’re not praying about it, you’re fighting over it. You don’t have because you haven’t asked God for it! If you have a need, don’t look first to your spouse or your friend to fill it. Go to God first. He already knows what you need, and he’s ready to give it to you. You just have to ask. “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT).
You’ll never find happiness in pleasure, power, possessions, positions, or prestige. You also won’t find it in success, sex, salary, or status. Those are all temporary. Permanent, ongoing happiness only comes when you give your life away in service. God wired you to give your life away. Why? Because God wants you to be like him. Most people don’t know this, but there are secrets to joy. And you can find both of these secret pathways to joy through service. Here’s the way to find joy: First, get your mind off of yourself. The more you focus on yourself, the more miserable you will become. To find real joy, you must shift from an inward focus—“It’s all about me”—to an outward focus—“It’s all about God and serving others.” Of course, this is countercultural. Our society screams that it’s all about you. But the Bible says, “I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy” (Philippians 2:17 NLT). The truth is, the most helpful people are the happiest people. Second, use your gifts to help others. It feels good to use your gifts to help others. The Bible says, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (1 Peter 4:10 NLT). God blesses you so you can bless others. When you bless others, God will bless you. If you’re struggling through a lack of joy in your life, try serving people in your community and in your church. Then watch God change your perspective. “There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:6-7 NRSV).
God is more interested in your character than your comfort. He’s not going to give you things if you haven’t learned the principle of contentment first. Contentment is not a lack of ambition. It’s not a lack of goals. Contentment means your happiness doesn’t depend on your circumstances. How do you eliminate discontent? You eliminate the cause: comparing. We compare everything in this country—lawns, cars, husbands and wives, clothes, the education of our kids (we even put “My Kid Was Student of the Month” on car bumpers). Whenever you compare, you’re going to become discontent. You’ve got to learn to stop comparing yourself to others. Paul says in Philippians 4:12, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (NIV). Contentment does not come naturally; it is something we have to learn. If we do this, God promises to meet all our financial needs. The Bible says, “There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:6-7 NRSV). One of the greatest secrets in learning to be content is to realize that you don’t really own anything. It’s all on loan to you for a few decades! You didn’t bring a single thing into this world, and you’re not going to carry anything out of it, either. You just get to use it while you’re here on earth. The Bible calls that stewardship. You are the manager or steward of what God allows you to have while you’re here, but it’s not really yours. When you understand that you’re just a manager of the blessings God allows in your life and you hold them with an open hand, you won’t be uptight about losing them. So what if you lose things? God can turn off one faucet and turn on another just as easily. Learn to be content because things don’t last. God is more interested in your character than your comfort. “It does not matter! I am happy about it—just so Christ is preached in every way possible, whether from wrong or right motives. And I will continue to be happy” (Philippians 1:18 GNT).
Few things rob your happiness faster than being criticized or feeling like others are working against you. Why? Because we all want to be loved. We all want approval. We all want people to like us. Yet Paul says in Philippians 1:18, “It does not matter! I am happy about it—just so Christ is preached in every way possible, whether from wrong or right motives. And I will continue to be happy” (GNT). You don’t need other people’s approval to be happy. You’re as happy as you choose to be! If others are unhappy with you, that’s their choice. If you haven’t earned someone’s approval by now, you’re probably not going to get it. And you’re going to be miserable if you try to live for the approval of everybody else. Paul later explains in verses 29 and 30 why you can be happy no matter what: “You have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it” (NLT). Paul says it is a privilege to suffer when you’re doing the right thing because you’re most like Jesus when you face opposition and rejection. You can be happy no matter what happens if you look at every problem from God’s viewpoint and never let what other people say or do control your happiness. Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8 NLT).
Have you noticed how easily you can lose your joy over some little thing? It’s usually the small irritations that cause you to lose your happiness. Somebody cuts you off in the middle of the road when you’re trying to make a turn, and you lose your happiness. You’re having a bad hair day or the clothes you put on don’t fit anymore, and you lose your happiness. It’s the little things that sometimes affect us the most, yet they don’t really matter. Paul says in Philippians 3:7, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done” (NLT). What was the most important thing to you before you began following Jesus Christ? Work? Career? Making money? Maybe it was getting a date. Maybe it was being popular. Maybe it was having security or being famous. Paul says all those things don’t matter anymore compared to the joy of knowing Jesus. You have to ask yourself about everything: How much will this matter in 100 years? How much of what I’m worrying about right now is going to matter tomorrow? It’s probably not going to matter tomorrow, much less for eternity. You can choose to live in light of eternity: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8 NLT). Every day when you get up, remind yourself what counts—and what doesn’t. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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