Tag: overwhelmed

Overwhelmed

1 Comment

“Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” Phillpians 4:6-8 The Message Version

How do you survive in a world that is pulling on you in all directions?

There is so much to know, too much to know.

Knowing everything that is going on in the world is overwhelming and undermining at the same time.

It is overwhelming because we are finite beings who are limited to one place at one time.

It is undermining because it erodes hope and breeds fear giving birth to an epidemic of anxiety.

How do we survive?

We choose to withdraw in the grace filled arms of God before we look into the lens of world.

We step into a shower of worship and allow God to saturate us with His presence before we step onto the sidewalk of humanity.

We go to Him without fear of judgement or censure.

We speak to Him about what is really going on in our hearts and hold nothing back.

We aim our thoughts on the target of that which is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.

Not to ignore what is happening in the world around us but to be free to see it through the perspective of something bigger, someone bigger, someone who spoke it into existence, walked among it, died for it and is redeeming it one life at a time.

Someone who is a Savior and the only One who can save it.

God is still doing glorious work in you and in me.

I am overwhelmed by it.

Which is so much better than being overwhelmed by everything else.

When You Are Tired

Leave a comment

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

When you are tired, go to Jesus.

When you are worn out, His arms are open.

When your To-Do List is too long and you are overwhelmed, lay it down.

Get away, get out and get renewed.

With Jesus.

For an entire day.

So you can be reminded that He is God and you are not.

So you can be reminded that the world keeps turning because He IS.

So you can learn to live in the unforced rhythms of grace instead of the anarchy of urgency.

So you can live free and rested in His love.

In His Sight

Leave a comment

Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭MSG

Jesus entered brokenness, was broken in it and then rose again to offer hope and wholeness to the world.

He didn’t lose sight of God’s future, He focused on it. He focused on you.

When you are overwhelmed with the difficulty before you – fix your eyes on Jesus.

He went through the unimaginable so that He could get you through the impossible. 

Stay

1 Comment

“Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.”

1 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬ MSG

Stay where God has called you to be.

If where you are is boring, stay there.

If where you are is overwhelming, stay there.

If where you are is fun, stay there.

If where you are is challenging, stay there.

He will give you the strength to withstand the monotony, wisdom to navigate the stress, clarity to get the most out of the fun and vision to conquer the challenge.

Look to God for your identity, your purpose, and the strength to live it out.

Hold the high ground. 

Stay where you are.

Timing is Everything

Leave a comment

Tuesday

“Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.”

1 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭24‬ MSG

Stay where God has called you to be.

If where you are is boring, stay there.

If where you are is overwhelming, stay there.

If where you are is fun, stay there.

If where you are is challenging, stay there.

He will give you the strength to withstand the monotony, wisdom to navigate the stress, clarity to get the most out of the fun and vision to conquer the challenge.

Look to God for your identity, your purpose, and the strength to live it out.

Hold the high ground.

Stay where you are.

Let Eternity In

Leave a comment
93b7ffe0e6a8a8c4d2076808e3229d56-small-moments-the-best-moments-of-my-life
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:41‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Being overwhelmed isn’t an emotion I like to have. There are always too many things to do and not enough time to do them.
The amazing thing about grace is that it immediately lifts the burden of “everything that should be done” and replaces it with the “one thing that needs to be done “.  
What is that “one thing”? 
It is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Begin there.
Drop your to-do list, close your eyes and take some time to sit with Jesus.
Being with Jesus does wonderful things to your priorities- it lines them right up.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me.
Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.
I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
When you sit at the feet of Jesus, time stops and eternity enters.
Let eternity in.
Then tackle your lists.

When Time Stops

1 Comment

93b7ffe0e6a8a8c4d2076808e3229d56--small-moments-the-best-moments-of-my-life

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:41‬ ‭NIV‬‬
Being overwhelmed isn’t an emotion I like to have. There are always too many things to do and not enough time to do them.  The amazing thing about grace is that it immediately lifts the burden of “everything that should be done” and replaces it with the “one thing that needs to be done “.  What is that “one thing”? It is sitting at the feet of Jesus. Begin there.
Drop your to-do list, close your eyes and take some time to sit with Jesus.
Being with Jesus does wonderful things to your priorities- it lines them right up.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?
Come to me.
Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.
I’ll show you how to take a real rest.
Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
(Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)
When you sit at the feet of Jesus, time stops and eternity enters.
Let eternity in.

Stress

Leave a comment

  

What are the things you are stressed about? 

Jesus put stress in two categories:

1. Worries about all the things you have to do.

2. Worry about all the things you want to get.

“The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get.

The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it. (Mark 4:18, 19 MSG)

A stress-filled life strangles the power of God’s Word in you. It makes it like a dormant seed unable to break out of it’s shell . It can not grow to become the formidable, fruit-bearing, Spirit reproducing Word it is meant to be.

You hear the Word of God and it is exactly what you need. But then you begin thinking of all you need to do and all the things you don’t have and soon you have forgotten that Word.

Don’t let stress to undermine the revelation of God’s powerful Word in your life. 

Don’t let your to-do lists to dictate your time in the Word, get in the Word and let it dictate your to-do lists.

Just as stress strangles the Word, so the Word strangles stress. It just matters which one comes first. 

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:33-34‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The key is in what your are seeking. 

Break up with stress. 

Embrace God’s presence and go after his kingdom- he will take care of the rest. 

When Time Stops

Leave a comment

““Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:41‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Being overwhelmed isn’t an emotion I like to have. There are always too many things to do and not enough time to do them.

The amazing thing about grace is that it immediately lifts the burden of “everything that should be done” and replaces it with the “one thing that needs to be done “.

What is that “one thing”?

It is sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Begin there.

Drop your to-do list, close your eyes and take some time to sit with Him. Being with Jesus does wonderful things to your priorities- it lines them right up.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion?

Come to me.

Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.

I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

(Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)

Midnight Prayers

Leave a comment

20140519-163921.jpg

When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches. (Psalm 63:6 AMP)

My least favorite thing in the entire world is waking up in the middle of the night worrying about all things I can’t do anything about. It’s like my mind is working thru every undone task and worrying about it while I sleep.

Or worse, I wake up thinking about something I haven’t thought about in a while and now, in the quiet of the night- it is all I can think of. The fear feels suffocating and overwhelming.

That is the best time to pray.

To shift your focus from your undone tasks, un-accomplishable wants or overwhelming worry to God.

To begin to thank him for what you have and what he has already done.

To lay those burdens at his feet and remind yourself how faithful he has already been.

To pray for people who he brings to your mind as well as the relationships that lay heavily upon your heart.

And sometimes, when there is nothing to distract you, you deal with that one thing you have been avoiding during daylight hours.

Midnight prayers are not my favorite times but they are often the best times for intercession, soul searching and heart cleansing.

Next time you wake up in the middle of night- fill it with prayer.