Sitting down to write, I’m always grateful for the margins of the page; the generous white space that frames the words. Those unbusied spaces give the text room to breathe and make reading less overwhelming. Margins are not a waste of space. They are necessary. Reading a page crowded edge-to-edge with words is frustrating; everything blurs together and meaning gets lost. Margins, by contrast, guide the eye and the mind, offering comfort and order.
I notice a parallel in my daily life. When my schedule is packed from morning to night, I find it hard to listen deeply or to notice the beauty around me. There’s no room for pauses, for prayer that wells up unplanned, for gratitude or silence. Without margin, life becomes a block of dense text. It is hard to navigate, impossible to savor.
The Cluttered Life
Just like spaces in our home, battling clutter is an ongoing effort. Life easily spills into the very edges with work commitments, family obligations, and a calendar without a sliver of white space. In recent years, I’ve realized that it isn’t just work and obligations that threaten my margins. The internet, with its constant stream of information, and social media, with its endless scroll of updates and opinions, can easily bleed into the white space of my life. What was once a quiet moment between tasks—a walk from the car to the house, or a few minutes waiting in line—now risks being filled by checking notifications or reading headlines. It’s easy to reach for my phone in every spare moment, turning what could be a pause for reflection or prayer into another opportunity for distraction.
When life is too cluttered, prayers become hurried, my relationships are more shallow, and my ability to delight in God’s presence diminished. The absence of margin breeds chaos and anxiety; it dulls my senses to what matters most. When every spare moment is captured by digital engagement, busyness, or distraction, true rest and reflection can feel further away than ever.
Spiritual Margin: The Invitation to Rest
There are ancient rhythms woven into creation and into faith: the call to weekly rest on the Sabbath, the wisdom of stepping away from work and noise, the invitation to avoid constant debates and conflict. Even God rests after creation is complete; Jesus escapes the crowds for solitary prayer (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:15-16, Matthew 14:23); and Paul admonishes his young mentor Timothy to shut his mind off of popular controversies (2 Timothy 2:23-26). Jesus often separated himself from the crowds and from his disciples. When I honor these patterns, I sense a restoration in my soul that can’t be manufactured by sheer accomplishments or constant connectivity.
“Shut your mind against foolish, popular controversy; be sure that only breeds strife. And the Lord’s servant must not be a man of strife; he must be kind to everybody, a skilled teacher, a man will not resent injuries; he must be gentle in his admonitions to the oppostion— God may perhaps let them change their mind and amdit the truth.”
2 Timothy 2:23-26, A New Translation by James Moffatt, D.D., 1913
Creating Margins: A Spiritual Discipline
Learning to create margin isn’t a once-for-all achievement but a daily choice. Sometimes it means declining another invitation, leaving an evening unscheduled, or simply lingering in silence instead of racing on to the next task. Lately, it also means making conscious decisions about my digital habits. I have taken steps away from social media platforms that once took a lot of time and energy away from my daily life.
I am choosing not to reach for my phone first thing in the morning, reclaiming quiet moments for prayer instead of scrolling, and being attentive to how technology fills the spaces meant for rest. I notice that the most meaningful conversations, the moments of laughter or insight, often arise in those unhurried stretches of time that I might otherwise have dismissed as unproductive.
Practical Ways to Build Margins
Travleling in the wilderness means traveling light. In fact, traveling light could be the difference in life and death. So what can we do? I offer The following practical steps as guidance for building intentional space, both inwardly and outwardly, so that moments of silence, reflection, and connection with God and others can flourish. By adopting these habits, I have been able to invite balance and peace into the busy rhythms of modern life, reclaiming the margins I need to nurture my soul.
Setting aside regular time for prayer and scripture reading, even if it’s brief.
Embracing Sabbath rest, allowing one day each week to be free from work and obligations.
Practicing simplicity by limiting unnecessary commitments or taking on extra work just to feel “accomplished.”
Creating physical spaces in my home for quiet and reflection. This did not require renovations. Instead, I changed the use of spaces. For instance, I rest the urge to turn the TV on in rooms once designed for viewing.
Intentionally leaving parts of my calendar open, trusting God with the unknown.
Leaving social media platforms that once demanded too much of my attention.
Margins on a page reveal what is essential; they allow words to breathe and meaning to unfold. In the same way, living with margin creates room to sense God’s presence, to pay attention, to rest and be restored. Technology can be a gift, but left unchecked, it fills the spaces where grace and reflection might otherwise dwell. When I honor boundaries and intentionally create margin—both from busyness and digital noise—I discover a freedom and peace that cannot be found in a life lived edge to edge.