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The standard answer we hear when we ask people how they are is, “Tired.” Or maybe they say, “Busy.” That doesn’t sound very healthy, does it? There has to be a better way, a way to simplify life so that we don’t always feel tired. The rush of life will eventually catch up in poor health, both mental and physical.
Graphic designers know that creating white space is important to draw people’s attention to what they want to stand out. Creating white space in life is also important. Not just blocking out a few minutes every day for prayer and meditation, which are both vital, but taking steps to actually simplify life.
Following are 7 meditations from Abide about creating white space, the importance of simplifying life, and how less is actually more when it comes to building up an environment that promotes both mental and physical well being.
Joy in Simplicity
Proverbs 15:16 tells us, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it.” When you own a lot of possessions, your concern about them increases. More locks on your doors, more insurance for your stuff, and more headaches when it comes to maintaining those possessions. Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation with narrator Jennifer Clark.
The Freedom of a Simplified Life
When you have more white space in your life, you leave more opportunity to be able to say yes to something God might bring your way. If you’re not overloaded with activities, you can have space to bring a meal to a lonely friend, or a family who just welcomed a new baby. You can have time to help someone in need, like a friend with a broken-down car.
Luke 16:13 says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
You might not be spending all your time on work, but sometimes overworking is part of what’s squeezing your time. Listen to the 3 1/2-minute version of this Abide meditation with narrator Johnathon Eltrevoog.
Less is More
Ecclesiastes 4:6, 8 teaches us that “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind. One person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ‘For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?’ This also is vanity and an unhappy business.”
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation with narrator Melissa Disney on the idea that less is actually more.
Maintaining Balance
There are times in life when your balance does get out of whack. That happens. But to stay out of balance risks your physical and mental well being. Consider the words of Genesis 2:2-3: And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
God rested in order to give us an example of how to simplify life. Don’t just work, work, work. Leave time to rest. That might not look like taking a Sunday afternoon nap. You may find rest in using your hands in a creative manner, reading a book, taking a bike ride. It’s not just rest from work, it’s rest for your soul.
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation about life balance with narrator Melissa Disney.
Decluttering Your Life
There’s been a lot of attention given to the idea of decluttering with the rise of stars like Marie Kondo. But decluttering doesn’t just mean getting rid of stuff you don’t use so you have more space in your home; it means clearing your calendar so you have more space in your life.
Luke 9:3 says, “And [Jesus] said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.'”
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation with narrator Johnathon Eltrevoog on decluttering your life.
Staying on Point
In the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, we read the story of the prophet’s focus on the task God gave him: rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem. Nehemiah 6:1-4 tells us of Nehemiah’s response to opposition: “Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.’ But they intended to do me harm. And I sent messengers to them, saying, ‘I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?’ And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.”
Not only did Nehemiah know that these enemies were set on harming him, he knew the task he’d been given. He was not going to stray from that task.
Listen to the 3-minute version of this Abide meditation on keeping your focus with narrator Tyler Boss.
There is great benefit to you and those around you when you learn to simplify your life. Keeping others from pressuring you into filling your time with too much risks your mental and physical health.
To hear the full-length version of each of these meditations, download the Abide app now. Save 25% on a premium subscription with this link. Your premium subscription will grant you access to our entire library of more than 2000 meditations and 300+ sleep stories.
Learn how to simplify life and find peace through biblical meditation with Abide.
