It all started that time I took my kids tent camping. I had four kids at the time, ages 14, 12, 9, and 6. It seemed like a great idea. We took a short road trip with a plan to spend two nights camping in a tent. I can’t remember what my husband was doing, but it was just me and the kids on this trip.

We arrived at the campground as scheduled and set up the tent, then headed to the lake across the street for some fun. Everything was going swimmingly (pun intended) until about 2:00 in the morning when I woke up to a downpour of rain. (Yes, we had the rain fly on the tent.) Despite all of our tent preparation, we were on the verge of floating away, and the top of the tent was collecting water and starting to cave in. Thankfully, our sleeping bags included outer shells that we were able to use to stay relatively dry. But I knew we had to do something about the top of our tent before the deluge took it down. My 12-year-old son and I started pushing back at the top of the dome where depressions of water were forming. With each push, water splashed off the top and the tent resumed it’s domed structure, at least for a few minutes, until water once again accumulated and we had to push back again.

I don’t remember how long the flow of rain pressed in the top of the tent, but it was a while. Everything was saturated and the space inside the tent was getting smaller until we pushed back, spilling the pockets of water over the side to find a new path. Eventually the rain slowed and we returned to our soggy sleeping bags for a few more hours until the sun greeted the day.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much my life often resembles that downpour in a tent. The pressures of life accumulate until they infringe on my space, caving in the ceiling and covering the floor. The solution, it turns out, is to push back. I don’t have to make myself smaller to fit in the reduced size of my tent, waiting for the whole thing to collapse. It is my job to protect the space that is mine. It is my job to push back on the press of work and life.

Many leaders (and I daresay parents) have commented on the reality that everyone wants something from them. People and projects constantly clamber for their attention. The press can be overwhelming, with a steady stream of deadlines, problems, and requests. We often think that we can stem the tide if we paddle faster – or bail water by working harder and longer. Unfortunately, the demands on our time and attention don’t decrease. The more we get done, the more that needs to be done. The more people we attend to, the bigger the crowd grows. The only reasonable response, but often the anti-intuitive one, is to push back.

Jesus modeled this kind of leadership on several occasions throughout his ministry when He walked away from the crowd. They wanted His attention – there were more people who needed healing – yet rather than attend to every unmet need, He protected His ministry by knowing when to stay, and when to turn and walk away from the press of people. For example, in Matthew 8:18, a crowd was once again clambering for the Christ’s attention and He literally got into a fishing boat and crossed the lake.

Learning to put away our work, leaving projects undone, saying no (kindly of course) to people with legitimate needs are essential skills for making our meaningful contributions sustainable. If we succumb to the press of our work and lives, then we fail to protect the space of our inner life. Burnout can creep in until our capacity to live a fully engaged life and do our best work is terribly diminished. It’s like letting the tent cave in from the weight of the water that accumulates. The pressures of work and life come down in a perpetual patter like raindrops that gather in pockets of pressure and threaten to make our space soggy and small. We have to push back. Let the mounting pressures find another path.

The pressures that each of us experiences may be different, but the solution is the same. We have to turn our back on the crowd – all those things that demand our time and attention – for a time so we can experience the rest and renewal that sustains us. We must protect our capacity to give to the people and projects that need us by holding our space sacred.

What is your ”crowd”? What is one action you can take today to push back on the pressure?