In this message series, we’ve talked about how work can actually rob us of the life that God has for us, if we let it overload us. We defined margin as the space between our load and our limit. We need margin in our time, in our checkbook and in every other area. If we don’t have margin, we will reap the negative effects of a hectic hurried lifestyle. We’ve talked about the benefits of margin and looked at some ways to slow down, to build margin and to lighten your load.

Today I want us to look at the purpose of margin. Why have margin in your life? The purpose of margin is not to live a life of selfishness, but to live a life of significance. You see margin is not just about cutting things out of your life so you can take it easy. Margin is about making time for what matters most, for living a life of significance. You were made for more than rest. God did not just put you on this earth to retire, you were put here for a purpose.

God has a plan and purpose for your life. While you need rest, the purpose of margin is to cut out the trivial things in your life, the things that don’t really matter, the things that most people waste their lives on. The purpose of margin is so you can have more time, more energy and more money for the things that matter most in life.

The key to an effective life, the key to a life of significance is focus, setting wise goals. You need to focus your life like a laser. The stronger the focus, the more concentrated the focus, the more power the laser has. So when you focus your life on the few goals that really matter most, your life will be effective.

The problem is that most of us have unfocused lives. We’re trying to do a hundred things at the same time, thinking they are all of equal value and they’re not. So an unfocused life causes you to get overloaded. On the other hand, the more you focus your life the more you center in on God’s goals for your life.

The Bible says in Msg Eph. 1:17-18 I ask God to make your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do. Today we’re going to look at setting wise goals. God’s Word says that the alternative to live an unfocused life is foolish in NCV Eph. 5:17 So do not be foolish but learn what the Lord wants you to do. I want to live wisely, I want to make the most out of the life that God has given me and I know that you want that for yourselves as well. How do you begin to set wise goals for your life?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 16, 2005 message entitled Setting Wise Goals

The world is an interesting and sometimes strange place. Some time ago, I read an article about some strange news. Several years ago, the Copenhagen Zoo was very proud of their okapi. You don’t know what an okapi is? Well neither did I, until I read the article. An okapi is a rare mammal from the Congo river basin in Africa, related to the giraffe. One day, the zoo keepers heard some strange sounds coming from a nearby park. Upon closer listening, they discovered the sound was opera performers from the Royal Theater having an outdoor rehearsal of a Wagner opera. Their prize okapi was also listening. It was listening to something it had never heard before. The okapi became more and more agitated until finally, to the zookeepers astonishment,the poor animal fell over and died. An autopsy report indicated that the 6-year old female named Katanga had suffered a severe stress attack. That music was murder.

People get stressed out as well by getting overloaded with too many things and too much to do. The proverbial camel did all right with it’s load until one day, the final straw that broke his back was put on. That camel was maxed out with his load, he had no margin and when additional weight was put on he collapsed. We don’t want to carry too heavy a load and become overloaded in life. God wants you and I to learn how to manage our stress and reduce overload in our lives. Does your load in life seem pretty heavy? Do you think that you may be overloaded? Then this message is for you.

We’re going to look at what Jesus has to say about lightening your load. In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us the secret of stress management. There are three things to do. If you learn to do these three things, your stress will go down, your satisfaction will go up and your overload will be lightened. This could be a turning point in your life today. Ask God to help you to begin to practice these three things that Jesus said we should do.

NRSV Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 9, 2005 message entitled Lightening Your Load

We’re in the middle of a message series called, “God’s Remedy For Stress.” We’ve talked about how God wants us to slow down the pace of our lives so we can really live the way He wants us to. We’ve talked about building margin into our lives, so we have some reserves when inevitable problems come our way. Last week we talked about remembering that loving relationships are what should matter most in our life, relationships with people and a relationship with God.

Today, we want to focus on our work, what we do to make a living, what we do to put food on the table, clothes on our backs and a roof over our head. Some people think of work as a four letter word that they want to avoid at all costs. Others are head over heels in love with their work, they would rather work then do anything else. Either of those two extremes will lead to great problems in your life.

Where did work come from in the first place? Well, God invented work and it is a good thing. In the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, God worked to create the world for 6 days and then He rested on the seventh. One of the very first things that He did after He created people was to give them work to do. NLT Genesis 2:15 The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. Even in paradise, there was work to do, a garden to be tended and cared for.

God gave a warning concerning that workplace. There was a certain tree that they should not eat from. There were dangers in work as well as blessing. Then Adam and Eve disregarded God’s warning and ate the forbidden fruit. One of the results was that man’s work now became difficult, it became a struggle to survive.

One of the reasons for stress, one of the reasons for a lifestyle that is too fast paced is overwork, when we work too hard, too long and too fast. There is danger in overwork because our work life must be in balance with the rest of our lives. Work must be kept in balance with our relationships with people and with our relationship with God.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my October 2, 2005 message entitled Keeping Work In Balance

Why do we get so stressed out in today’s society? Why do our bodies, our emotions, our schedules, our budgets get overloaded. The answer is because we try to do too much. And why do we try to do too much? Because we forget what matters most. Instead of focusing on the few things in life that matter most, the things that really count, that really make a difference, we try to do everything and we get overloaded.

Today, we want to remember what matters most. NLT Psalm 39:4 LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. We all know that our lives are not going to last forever, but we need to be reminded of it. Why? In order to make the most of our lives. NLT Psalm 90:12 Teach us to make the most of our time. We need God’s help to teach us what matters most. We need God to show what we should be doing in our lives.

Our time here on earth is but a blink of the eye in comparison with the endlessness of eternity. When I was a child, I memorized a short poem which went like this, “Only one life, will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” When we really think about it, we want our lives to count for something, we want our lives and what we do to have an impact that will outlive us. We want our lives to have an impact that will last for eternity. In order for that to happen, we need to make the most of our time by focusing on the right priorities.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my September 25, 2005 message entitled Focusing On Right Priorities

Each year, the pace of our society the pace of our lifestyles speeds up. The result is that people get on overload in their lives. If that overload continues for too long, they’re going to crash, in one way or another. Here’s some overload stats for you. People now sleep 2 and a half fewer hours each night than people did 100 years ago. The average office worker has 36 hours of work piled up on his desk. We spend 8 months of our lives opening junk mail and two years of our lives playing phone tag. We are a stretched to the limit society. We are chronically rushed, chronically late and chronically exhausted. You may feel like Job did in NLT Job 3:26 I have no peace, no quietness. I have no rest; instead, only trouble comes.

Areas of overload include too much activity, too much change, too many choices, too much work, too much debt, too much media exposure, too much information and an overall hurried lifestyle. All this overload leads to stress in our lives. Last week we talked about some of the effects of stress: loss of joy, less productivity and an inability to hear God. What is the solution? We need to learn how to slow down the pace of life

This week we want to expand on how to slow down. I want to talk about developing margin in your life. Margin is breathing room, margin is having a little reserve, margin is not being stretched to the limit. Here’s a definition of margin: the space between my load and limit.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my September 18, 2005 message entitled Developing Margin In Your Life

Today we begin a new message series called “God’s Remedy For Stress.” Stress is defined as “A mentally or emotionally upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health.” We can learn a few things about stress from this definition. First of all, stress is not good, it negatively affects your physical health. Stress occurs in response to adverse external influences. Some of these influences we can do something about, others we cannot. However, since stress is a response to adverse circumstances, we can learn how to respond differently and reduce our stress level.

In this series we’re going to be looking at what God’s Word has to say about what causes stress and how we can live our lives in stressful times with less stress. The pace of life is getting faster and faster. We try to cram more and more things into the 24 hours of each day. It is if we are all jugglers, trying to juggle more and more plates. Sooner or later the stress begins to build and everything may come crashing down in our lives.

The Bible predicted thousands of years ago what would happen in our age. NLT Daniel 12:4 Seal up the book until the time of the end. Many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase. I think we’ve got the rushing here and there down and knowledge is increasing at a phenomenal rate. The boundaries between work and family are disappearing. In particular, work is invading every aspect of our lives and homes. We now have laptops, cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging and the internet. This means that you can do work outside of the office, anytime, whether in your home office or while you are watching television with your family.

Is this increase in knowledge and productivity bad? No, not in itself, but when your lifestyle gets too souped-up, stressed-out and overscheduled, you’re headed for burnout. The Bible is clear about how hurry, busyness and a frantic pace affect our lives. There are four results of a fast-paced lifestyle.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my September 11, 2005 message entitled Slowing Down The Pace