Tired, stressed, exhausted, frustrated, running on an empty tank? These are some of the things that drive you down the road of being overwhelmed. I’ve hit that road plenty of times and it always lets me know I’m running on my own strength, and I’ve hit my limit.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”. -2 Corinthians 12:9
This is the scripture I continued to quote as I looked at toys surrounding the floor. My oldest son had decided on this particular day that he wanted to throw his food on the floor because the spaghetti that he loves to eat every day if possible was no longer a favorite for him. My infant who was teething and crying did not want to be in his play pin, highchair or pretty much anywhere he felt restrained. Instead, he wanted to roam as freely as possible and get into everything that was off limits. I, on the other hand, was running off of no sleep from both kids being sick, fighting to get over the cold passed on from the kids, and mother nature seemed to kick in at the right time. I was officially overwhelmed! At this point, I needed some supernatural strength and a clone of me so that I could drop everything and go rest.
In my moment of weakness, I could only look to one person who could fix it all. The bible says to cast all of your cares on God because he cares for you. (1Peter 5:7) While I was trying to figure out everything and running on my own strength, I had to remind myself that I needed God in every aspect of my life. This includes even the minor things. This is something we might know already but we can often lose track of that when life starts to crash in on our day. Overwhelmed, stressed, and frustrated are signs that we have not allowed him to take control in that particular area of our life. Instead, we’ve closed him off and let ourselves lead.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” Isaiah 20:28
It’s impossible for God to be overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, etc! Lean on him! There is a saying that says don’t put all your eggs in one basket. This is true when it comes to putting all of your cares, etc into a man or women because we are then disappointed or hurt when that person doesn’t live up to your expectations. However, there is someone that you can give all of your cares to no matter how big or how small, and that is God. So I want to give you a few practical ways to keep from getting overwhelmed.
- Find a scripture that relates to your situation and speak that scripture over and over and over again. –write it out, post it everywhere you need to so that every time you think about getting stressed say No because God said (insert scripture)!
- What is your attention focused on? What we give all our attention or energy to becomes our god. Instead turn your attention to God.
- Prayer does change things- spend some time in prayer. –God loves when we talk to him. He wants you to have deeper relationship with him where there are no formalities, just talking to him like a friend.
- Turn on some worship music or sing unto the Lord-I’ve done this more than I can count. When the kids are screaming or crying and it seems like chaos I turn on some worship music and change the atmosphere. I worship God and they calm down. It also teaches your children at an early age to shift the atmosphere but that’s another topic will discuss later.
These are just a few things that will help keep you from being overwhelmed. I pray this blessed you and I will list some of my favorite scriptures that I quote when I need that extra grace, peace, strength, and help below. Stay tuned to the next blog and read others if you haven’t already. Subscribe and share!
Additional Scriptures: Psalm 61:2, Psalm 142:3, Isaiah 40:31, Ephesians 6:10, Genesis 28:15.
Tiffany Saunders 