Beneath any practical change in our calendar, we are seeking a heart change, in mind and attitude.  To change your heart posture, start celebrating and giving thanks for your limits.  Give thanks that you can’t get everything done.  Give thanks that you can’t be everywhere at once.  Then (and this is big), start saying “no!”  “No, I’m sorry, I can’t do that.  I’d love to, but I can’t.”  For many of us, the fear of disappointing other people keeps us hurried.  But this fear of man must be rooted out of us, as the power of fear is subsumed by the reality of how great and how “enough” God’s love for us is.[1] 

Read the Gospels and you’ll see that Jesus, though he was the Son of God, often said, “No.”  He knew his limits. And because he knew his identity, he didn’t live in fear as a people-pleaser.  We simply cannot be all things to all people.  We cannot always do more and be more and have it all (despite the encouragement of the advertising machines all around us).  We must do what Paul told us: rejoice in your weaknesses.[2]  We must embrace our limits, as counter-cultural as that is.

Again,  spiritual life is incredibly practical.  I think some of the worse advice newlyweds get is “never go to bed angry.”  Sometimes the best thing you can do is go to bed angry and get some much-needed sleep.  There’s a good likelihood you’ll wake up in the morning with a clearer head and a heart that’s ready to address the breakdown.  In a similar sense, sometimes the best thing you can do for your spiritual life is take a walk, take a nap, drink a cup of coffee slowly.  Just practice, practice, practice unhurriedness.  You’ll have to de-associate your identity from “getting things done” or “having a lot to do.”  You’ll have to learn that Jesus has rest for you.  There is real work to this, and do not underestimate that!  At the same time, don’t underestimate the real and tangible joy that Jesus desires for you, and the power of that joy as it manifests in knowing, loving, and serving others. 

To read more, check out The Transformation Blog, here.

[1] For a great read on embracing limits, see Zack Eswine’s Sensing Jesus: Life and Ministry as a Human Being, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, 2012.  Especially ‘Part 1: Exposing Our Temptations.’

[2] 2 Corinthians 12:9