THE MINISTRY OF MARGIN 

Restoring Breathing Room for Your Soul 

Pastor Steve Lummer 

Key Text 

“Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through.” 
Nehemiah 2:14 

Introduction 

We live in a culture that celebrates full calendars, constant accessibility, and endless productivity. 

We’re praised for being busy. 

We wear exhaustion like a badge of honor. 

Yet God never designed us to live overloaded. 

The greatest threat to your vision is often not failure… 

It’s fatige. 

Today I want to talk about The Ministry of Margin. 

Margin is the space between your limits and your load. 

Think of it like this: 

LIMIT 
 
RESERVE 
 
LOAD 

Your load must never exceed your limit. 

The reserve between the two is called margin. 

Without margin… 

• Vision disappears. 

• Joy fades. 

• Relationships suffer. 

• Spiritual sensitivity declines. 

I. The Overload Syndrome 

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 

Matthew 26:41 

Signs of overload 

• Constant exhaustion 

• Irritability 

• Avoiding people 

• Feeling behind 

• No room to think 

• Living in survival mode 

The problem isn’t simply working hard. 

The problem is living with no reserve. 

Accessibility has become one of our greatest enemies. 

Phones. 

Email. 

Texts. 

Notifications. 

Social media. 

Everyone has immediate access to us. 

Just because someone can reach you… 

doesn’t mean they should. 

Hurry Sickness 

John Ortberg tells the story of asking Dallas Willard, 

“What must I do to become spiritually healthy?” 

Willard answered, 

“You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” 

Ortberg wrote it down. 

Then asked, 

“What else?” 

Willard smiled. 

“There is nothing else.” 

Hurry is not simply the pace of life. 

It is the condition of the soul. 

II. Learn to Read Your Reserve Gauges 

Every relationship either: 

Adds to your reserves 

or 

Subtracts from your reserves. 

Ask yourself: 

Who energizes me? 

Who is neutral? 

Who consistently drains me? 

Not every difficult person should be avoided. 

But Scripture repeatedly teaches wisdom about boundaries. 

Proverbs 4:23 

“Above all else, guard your heart…” 

Protect your emotional reserves. 

You cannot pour from an empty cup. 

III. Six Ways to Create Margin 

1. Spend Time with People Who Charge Your Battery 

“A sweet friendship refreshes the soul.” 
Proverbs 27:9 (The Message) 

Life is built on relationships. 

Isolation kills. 

Encouragement restores. 

Ask yourself: 

Who leaves me more alive after spending time together? 

Spend more time there. 

2. Leave Room for Margin 

Richard Swenson defines margin as 

“the space between our load and our limits.” 

Margin is breathing room. 

Nature even teaches this. 

Trees produce thousands of seeds. 

Fish lay millions of eggs. 

God designed creation with surplus. 

Even Jesus modeled margin. 

When He fed the 5,000… 

There were twelve baskets left over. 

Margin leaves room for 

• ministry 

• mercy 

• generosity 

• interruption 

• miracles 

3. Reserve Down Time 

Sabbath isn’t laziness. 

It’s wisdom. 

Bill Hybels once confessed, 

“The pace at which I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me.” 

Genesis says God worked six days… 

and rested one. 

Not because He was tired. 

But because He was teaching rhythm. 

Creation. 

Rest. 

Creation. 

Rest. 

Healthy souls breathe in rhythm. 

4. Plan for Lead Time 

Failure to plan… 

is planning to fail. 

The bigger the vision, 

the more lead time it requires. 

God always plans ahead. 

Ephesians reminds us that before the foundation of the world… 

God already had a plan. 

Without lead time: 

There is no creativity. 

There is no vision. 

There is only reaction. 

Great leaders don’t simply react. 

They prepare. 

5. Seek Solitude 

Jesus repeatedly withdrew. 

Mark 1:35 

“Very early in the morning… Jesus went to a solitary place.” 

Dallas Willard said, 

“The answer to busyness is not more efficiency. It is solitude.” 

You cannot hear God clearly in constant noise. 

Solitude gives us 

• altitude 

• perspective 

• clarity 

Every leader needs a mountain. 

Every believer needs a quiet place. 

6. Find Your Sacred Space 

Henri Nouwen writes, 

“Discipline is creating space in which God can act.” 

Moses had the Tent of Meeting. 

Jesus had lonely places. 

Where is yours? 

For some it’s 

• a trail 

• a river 

• a canoe 

• a campfire 

• a mountain bike 

• a chair on the porch 

• a prayer room 

You need a place where heaven regularly meets earth. 

The Outdoor Nations Connection 

One of the reasons Outdoor Nations exists is because margin is easier to discover outdoors. 

The trail slows us. 

The river teaches rhythm. 

The campfire quiets our hearts. 

The mountain reminds us we are not God. 

When we step outside… 

God often speaks to our inside. 

Sometimes the greatest spiritual discipline isn’t learning another Bible study. 

It’s simply creating enough space to hear the One who has been speaking all along. 

Conclusion 

The enemy doesn’t always destroy vision through sin. 

Sometimes… 

he simply crowds it out. 

Your calendar becomes too full. 

Your soul becomes too hurried. 

Your heart becomes too noisy. 

Vision suffocates when there is no margin. 

God is inviting us back to breathing room. 

Back to reserve. 

Back to Sabbath. 

Back to solitude. 

Back to sacred spaces. 

Back to relationships that restore us. 

Because the ministry God wants to do through you… 

begins with the margin He first creates within you. 

Closing Challenge 

This week, ask yourself three questions: 

1. Where am I overloaded? 

2. What is stealing my margin? 

3. What one change can I make this week to create breathing room for God? 

Final Scripture 

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10 

THE MINISTRY OF MARGIN 

Conclusion: There Is Room at the Cross 

Key Text 

“Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through.” 
Nehemiah 2:14 

Throughout this message we’ve talked about creating margin in our schedules, our relationships, our souls, and our vision. 

But perhaps the greatest margin of all is the margin God has created for us through His grace. 

Isn’t that really why the Church exists? 

To offer a margin of grace to people who have no margin left in life. 

Every week people walk through our doors carrying impossible loads. 

Some are exhausted. 

Some are overwhelmed. 

Some are buried under guilt. 

Some are trying to hold together broken marriages, broken dreams, broken finances, or broken hearts. 

Like Nehemiah, they long to move toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool—the very places where life and refreshment are found—but there simply isn’t enough room. 

Life has become so cluttered that there is no space left for God. 

Too many people have crowded out the most important relationship they will ever have because of all the trivial things demanding their attention. 

Yet the Gospel announces wonderful news. 

Jesus has already made room. 

At the cross, He created enough margin for every failure, every regret, every sin, and every burden we could ever carry. 

Romans 5:20 reminds us: 

“Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” 

His mercy is greater than your mistakes. 

His grace is bigger than your failures. 

His love has no limits. 

If you’ve never trusted Christ, or if you’ve wandered far from Him, today there is room for you. 

Come to the cross. 

Lay down your overload. 

Lay down your hurry. 

Lay down your shame. 

Lay down your striving. 

Receive the margin that only Jesus can give. 

Because His invitation has never changed: 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 
—Matthew 11:28 

Final Challenge 

This week, don’t simply create more room in your calendar. 

Create more room for Christ. 

Remember: 

• Margin creates space for vision. 

• Margin creates space for relationships. 

• Margin creates space for rest. 

• Margin creates space for ministry. 

• And ultimately, God’s grace creates margin for your soul. 

Closing Prayer 

“Lord, teach us to live with margin—not simply so we can accomplish more, but so we can become more like You. Give us the wisdom to leave room for Your Spirit to work in our lives. May our homes, our schedules, our relationships, and our hearts have enough margin for Your presence. Thank You that at the cross there was—and always will be—room for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” 

“There’s room at the cross for you.”