How Full Is Your Life?

How full is your glass? Even when we’re focusing on the positive things of this world, we need to make sure we’re intentionally creating room for God to pour out His blessings into our lives.

Imagine you are standing in front of a counter with three glasses. The first glass is filled to the brim with water—not even a drop more could fit in without it spilling over the edge. The second glass is half-full (or half-empty depending on your perspective!) and the last glass is completely empty. As you look at these glasses, which one resembles your life today?

What’s in your glass?

Is your life so full that nothing else can possibly fit in? Maybe you’ve filled it up by working hard in school or advancing your career. Personal hobbies, hours on Facebook and loads of laundry all may be drops in your glass. Whatever it contains—good or bad—there isn’t any extra room without some serious overflow!

Or you may look at your life and think that it isn’t full enough. While your glass isn’t at capacity, it isn’t empty either. Maybe a recent loss, unexpected circumstance or lack of initiative has made a small crack in your glass that resulted in a slow leak. While there appears to be extra space, your glass can’t actually hold more without it eventually leaking out.

Very few people have completely empty glasses in our society that values achievement and capitalizing on every opportunity. We are socialized to fill up our glasses in order to become successful and to take pride in our accomplishments. But is an overflowing glass always good? What’s the trade-off?

What’s your receiving capacity?

Now imagine God came to you holding a full pitcher and shared that He wants to pour all of His blessings into your life—as many as your glass can currently hold! Now which glass would you like to be? While a full glass appears to be the best from our world’s perspective, a busy life without God leaves no room for God to pour all that He desires into your life.

Consider your “receiving capacity”—the extra space in your glass that is not already filled. In our increasingly fast-paced society, our lives quickly become filled with activities and experiences—from service projects to family commitments—that seem to be positive. Yet we must consider how each opportunity we allow into our lives either supplements or distracts from building a deep and lasting relationship with our Heavenly Father. We need to be discerning in order to know the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Consider whether your glass is already so filled up with other “stuff” that it can’t possibly accept anything else. Is your glass strong enough and free of cracks to contain all of the amazing blessings we can receive through a strong relationship with God?

Creating more room in your glass

I’ve always thought of myself as a “glass half-full” kind of person. Yet in this case, I am actively working to pour out my glass so my life can be filled by God instead. God wants to pour His blessings, answered prayers and fulfilled desires into our lives if we only create the space and make the time for Him. Below are some strategies to create more space in your G.L.A.S.S.

Glass analysis: Start by checking out what’s in your glass (AKA, your life!). What takes up your time, attention and energy? What activities and relationships have cracked your glass? Like a routine doctor or dentist appointment, it’s also smart to check in on our lives regularly to see what kind of life we’re creating.

Let God in: Before God can pour out His blessings in our lives, we need to desire and actively develop a relationship with Him. Pray to God and invite Him to show you all He desires for your life (Matthew 7:7-12).

Awareness of control: One of the main reasons we fill our glasses so full or don’t notice they have cracks is because of either a strong desire for control or a lack of control in our lives. Consider your attitude toward planning and how it relates to control. (For more information, learn how to go about “Planning in Pencil.”)

Stillness creates capacity: There are many places in the Bible that instruct us to “be still” and to “wait on God” (Psalms 27:14; 37:7; 46:10). By faithfully studying His Word and making time to think deeply about His will, we can trust God to guide and direct our paths instead of trying to pave them all ourselves (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Stay connected: While it’s important to invite God into your life, it’s equally imperative to stay connected to Him through regular prayer, Bible study, fasting and spiritual conversations and fellowship. How are you building an ongoing relationship with your Creator?

Using this G.L.A.S.S. approach, you can begin to create and sustain a healthy awareness of how you are shaping a life that actively includes God. How full is your glass?

Leslie M. Schwartz is a positive psychology coach, consultant and trainer who works with clients around the world. She attends the Portland, Oregon, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.

For more about planning, priorities and time management, see:

• Planning in Pencil
• Time Flies … What Am I Doing?
• No Time to Waste
• Waste It Wisely