Steps to Un-Stuff Your Schedule and

Increase Your Margin

 

"Reverence for God adds hours to each day". (Proverbs 10:27 LB)

 

          Do you ever get to the end of your day and think:

          "Did I accomplish anything?"

          Where does all the time go?

 

If you don't master your schedule, it will master you!

Here are three suggestions from the Bible for reducing the stress of your schedule and increasing your margin:

          1. Line up your priorities. Obviously, you don't have

              time to do everything, so you must make choices. 

              You must decide what's really important and what

              isn't. Take some time to consder the direction   

              of your life. The Bible says, "An intelligent person

              aims at wise action but a foot starts off in many

              directions" (Proverbs 17:24 GNT); "It is stupid to

              waste time on useless projects" (Proverbs 12:11

              GNT); "We should make plans - counting on God

              to direct us" (Proverbs 26:9 LB).

          2. Lighten up your attitude. Do you really have to do

              everything on your to-do list? No one is holding a

              gun to your head; a lot of your stress is self-

              imposed. The Bible says, "Worry weighs us down

              ..." (Proverbs 12:25 MSG); "A relaxed attitude   

              lengthens a man's life" (Proverbs 14:30 LB);

             "Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death

             to be gloomy all the time" (Proverbs 17:22 GNT).

          3. Look up to God. Stress is always a warning light

              that you've taken your focus off God and are

              looking at your problems from your limited view-

              point.

The single greatest cause of stress is this: We take ourselves too seriously and we don't take God seriously enough!

 

excerpted fron Rick Warren