I know you can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan, chauffeur the kids, head up every ministry, hang out with your friends, join the PTA and have perfect nails. But I also know that at the end of the day, instead of feeling fulfilled you likely feel stressed and unaccomplished.
I’m guessing if you are reading this blog, you desire a better way. You want to know that you’re fulfilling your purpose while you’re here on Earth, not just frantically checking things off a to-do list.
The good news is that a better way absolutely exists. And the answer lies in being willing to simplify your life.
The Bible says, “So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us” (Hebrews 12:1b).
The truth is that if you want to fulfill a greater purpose in this world, you have to simplify your life. This is because God will never pressure you. Rather, He prompts you. And if your life is crowded with noise and obligations, you won’t be able to discern what’s a nudge from God and what’s noise.
Here are three significant ways to remove anything from your life that could be getting in the way and holding you back—and that includes being too busy:
- Determine your core values. What matters most to you? It’s too easy to get caught up in the expectations of others and neglect what God put us on this planet to do. I’m not saying to ignore all your responsibilities, but everything you do should support your core values, because these are the activities that will bring you peace, even when you’re working your butt off.
- In order to simplify your life, you must determine what’s not contributing to the important things in your life and then say NO to those things. Some blessings are not blessings at all—the way that having too much “stuff” keeps you on the treadmill of continually needing more money and space, or being caught up in too many activities keeps you from having peace and downtime. Just because all the parents shuffle their kids to six different activities during the week doesn’t mean you need to as well, especially if this is not part of your core value.Will it be uncomfortable at first? Yes! But you don’t have to do this all at once. Start with one thing that you can purge from your life and one thing you can purge from your schedule.
- Set boundaries. Without boundaries you’ll limit God’s plan for your life. The first step in being able to set boundaries is to begin to clear out the noise in your life—it’s near impossible to make solid decisions when you’re constantly feeling rushed. Carve out some breathing room for yourself by taking a moment to ask yourself, “Why? Why am I doing this? Why do I want this? Why am I involved with this person?” Your answers will reveal a lot. And they will be the starting point to being able to set and keep healthy boundaries.
If you struggle with setting and keeping limits, you may just need a little help building your boundary-setting muscles. If you’d like the accountability and focus of one-on-one support, reach out to me at [email protected] to schedule a sample coaching session. If you prefer to start off by educating yourself, I recommend the Boundaries by Henry Cloud to many of my clients.
The question is, will you make the necessary changes or continue to conform to how this world operates just to try and keep up? Or will you create enough space in your life for God to be able to move through you?
