You're Too Busy: Creating Margin for God

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." ~Mark 1:35

You're Too Busy: Creating Margin for God

I tried to add an appointment to my calendar last week and got a notification I had seen before — my storage was full…again. I had to delete a few things just to save one item. It made me think: when was the last time I'd even looked at what was in there?

Our schedules fill up the same way. Slowly, almost without us noticing, the margins close in. One commitment follows another, one obligation builds on the next, and before long there's no white space left where it's needed most.

Jesus understood something about this that's worth sitting with. In Mark 1, we catch one of the most demanding stretches of His ministry — healing the sick, driving out demons, the whole town pressing in on Him. And then the very next thing Mark records: "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35).

He didn't wait for a convenient window. He created one — before the noise started, before the demands showed up at the door.

When the disciples found Him, they essentially said: everyone is looking for you. The unspoken pressure was to get back to work. But Jesus had already heard from His Father. He came out of that quiet place knowing exactly what to do and where to go next (Mark 1:38).

Creating Margin for God in an Overloaded Life

That's what margin actually is — not wasted time or laziness. It's the space where we stop running long enough to hear what we're supposed to be running toward.

Psalm 46:10 puts it plainly: "Be still, and know that I am God." The Hebrew word for still — raphah — carries the idea of releasing, of letting go. The knowing comes after the stillness, not before. You can't download clarity while the signal is jammed.

And if anyone had a reason to skip the quiet time, it was Jesus. But He didn't. The most productive thing He did on those mornings wasn't healing someone — it was praying before He did.

If your life is packed to the edge right now, something is almost certainly being crowded out — and it's probably God. My phone told me I needed to delete something to make room. Your calendar won't send you that notification. You have to decide to create the margin yourself.

Daily Practice: Look at the next three days on your calendar. Find one window — even fifteen minutes — and protect it from everything else. Don't fill it with productivity. Read one passage of Scripture, sit quietly, or just tell God what's weighing on you. You don't have to fix anything in that time. Just show up. This is how you will start creating margin for God.