Too, Too Much!

            

            Ever had too much of a good thing? Recently I did. Coworkers had given me a hummingbird scatter garden. It was a bag of seed to sprinkle over up to 125 square feet—quite a lot of footage. Now, I don’t have that kind of space unless I start removing sod. But, I had a large clay pot, and I had a plan—create a mini hummingbird garden. What a good idea!

Many Seeds

            Maybe not.

            The first challenge was that it wasn’t only a bag of seeds. The bag included some light stuff that I suspect was to keep the seed dry. It also prevented me from knowing how many seeds I was sowing in my pot. My mini garden was a mystery for a while. Then it wasn’t.

            All kinds of wonderful, tiny plants started erupting. As exciting as that was, there is enough of my horticultural family background in me to know the perils of crowding. The pot needed thinning, yet I shrank from it. Pull some of those tender emerging plants? No, please no. As much as I didn’t want to, I finally thinned out the pot, saying “no” to too much of a good thing. I may need to do it again.

Too Many Plants

            I’m not only thinning out my pot, I’m thinking about thinning out my life as I work through Breathe, a Bible study by Priscilla Shirer about concepts of Sabbath rest. What and who is it hard for me to refuse? If I don’t get this or that done, is there some great loss I will face? How much stuff do I need? Can I turn my wanter way down or shut it off entirely? How do I learn to rest? When do I rest?

            I tend to dial down on the fourth commandment: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Exodus 20:8, NIV) I am particularly bad about saying no to people and putting the brakes on doing things because I am a pleaser and a doer. I am learning, however, that that’s exactly how this commandment is to bless me, because all the commandments are to protect and bring joy to our lives. Humans are susceptible to overdoses of even good things.

            Could you use some help with margin, a Sabbath, and more true rest in your life? What are your struggles? The journey of faith includes a Sabbath rest. Do you agree? More on this later.