A Word for the Overwhelmed

Feeling overwhelmed?

I think we could all answer a resounding, “YES!” to that one at one time or another.  In fact, most working women of faith could answer yes to that on a daily basis.  And it’s no wonder, right?

We have schedules that are jam packed full of everyone else.  We feel guilty if we take a “me” moment for a pedicure, or to read a chapter of a book we’ve been picking away at for months.  We carve out time to volunteer at church, school, or a local non-profit, but we can’t seem to carve out 10 minutes for ourselves.  And we wonder why we feel overwhelmed!

Here are a few definitions for the word overwhelmed: to be buried or drown beneath a mass; to defeat; to inundate.  Can you relate?

I recently spoke with one woman, listening to her and giving her counsel on her life. She is taking care of four kids ranging from age 13 down to 2, keeping up on a household, and giving 40+ hours to her work.  She was feeling overwhelmed to the point where she couldn’t even say what was wrong, or what would make her happy.  Can you relate?

“You need some time to think.  Plain and simple.”, I said.

“I don’t even know what I would think about if I had the time.”

Again, can you relate?

Here’s the word for all you overwhelmed women in the world: STOP!

Just stop.  Stop running, stop planning, stop scheduling.  Just stop and think.

God never intended us to be so busy we couldn’t think.  God knows that you need space to think.  And it’s when you are in those quiet minutes, that God speaks the loudest.

The enemy of our souls does everything he can to keep us too busy and distracted to think.  Satan knows that if we slow down enough to think, that God can speak to us.  And if God speaks to us, we might listen.  And if we listen to God, we might have dramatic change in our lives.  And if dramatic change happens in our lives, we might realize the joy and peace that God has always desired for us.  Satan will do whatever it takes to keep that from happening.

This is a truth worth repeating.  The enemy will do whatever it takes to keep you too distracted to think.  The enemy wants you to stay overwhelmed.  Because when we get overwhelmed, we forget how big God is.  Our overwhelmedness overshadows God’s greatness.

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Look at what Jesus said about this,

“The thief’s [satan’s] purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” (John 10:10)

Satan wants to steal your joy, kill your dreams, and destroy your faith.

Can you relate?  Do you feel like your joy has been stolen?  Are your dreams dead?  Is your faith faltering?

Stop and think about that.

If the answer is yes to any of those, then you know what you need to do.  Stop and think.

Because Jesus said He came to give you a rich and satisfying life.  Another version calls it “abundant life”, yet another says “life to the full”.  Is that how you’d describe your life?  If not, Then stop and think.

Stop and think because you’re life depends upon it.

Jesus said he came to give us a rich, satisfying, abundant life, we’re just too busy to receive it.

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If you say you are too busy to stop and think, then you are just too busy.

I counseled this young woman to just take 10 minutes a day, by herself, to think.  10 minutes is not a lot of time, but it’s enough space to get you started.  Even if you have to go to work 10 minutes early and sit in your car to have those 10 minutes, do it.  Lock yourself in your bathroom, go sit under a tree in your backyard.

Do whatever it takes to stop and think.  Don’t use it to plan out your day, or check your social media.  Just stop , be still, and think.  Be still and silent before God and watch the wonderful work He will begin to do in your heart and mind as you take time to stop and think.

I personally guarantee that if you start to give yourself some space to think, you will start to feel less overwhelmed.  And as you do, you can turn your thinking time into time with God.

Are you ready to stop being overwhelmed?

Are you sick and tired of being tired?

Are you willing to say,”no more!” to satan’s tactics of kill, steal, and destroy?

And instead say “YES!” to Jesus’ offer of a rich, full, abundant, and satisfying life?

Then STOP, and think.