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"I'm overwhelmed. I just can't handle this
anymore. There's too much to do. I wish I could
crawl away, go to sleep, disappear." How
often have we felt this way -- hopeless, powerless,
swamped, depressed? Too often!
You know, when we say that we're overwhelmed,
we're really believing in some pretty negative
things:
- We are feeling a false sense of responsibility
and are acting pretty egotistically by taking
on burdens that might not be ours and thinking
that we have to handle our own problems.
- We're believing that God really isn't in control
of our lives.
- We're admitting that there's a problem that's
too big for God to handle.
But do we really want to take God out of the
solution?
We don't have to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed
by these destructive and deadening feelings. We
don't have to give up our sanity, peace, and health
to accomplish what needs to get done. We don't
have to be crushed by a tremendous sense of burden.
There is a way out.
Changing our concept of what it means to be overwhelmed
is one of the most important steps we can take
to find our freedom. Usually we associate being
overwhelmed with feeling defeated -- most often
by outside forces. But what if we thought about
being overwhelmed -- immersed and submerged --
by the power of God? How would we feel then? Hopeful,
empowered, light, joyful!
After Jesus' resurrection, the apostles and disciples
finally understood what it meant to be overwhelmed
by the power of God, by the Holy Ghost or Holy
Spirit. Luke records in the book of Acts numerous
occasions of people being "filled with the
Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:4). Let's think about
the word "filled." If we are completely
filled, then there is no room for anything else.
A car simply cannot take any more gas when it
is full. So, if we're filled with the Holy Ghost
-- filled with the Spirit of God -- then there
is no room for depression or defeat.
The apostle Peter told the multitudes that God
said, "I will pour out of my Spirit upon
all flesh" (Acts 2:17). God is pouring His
Spirit into us -- in fact, we reflect His Spirit!
His Spirit is energetic, compassionate, principled.
Moreover, God is not stingy with His gifts: He
"pours" his Spirit out -- floods, dumps,
submerges us in His glory. The disciples acknowledged
this Spirit with gratitude, humility, joy, and
conviction in its power; as a result, they converted
the multitudes, healed instantaneously, and transformed
lives. And we can feel this Holy Spirit, too.
But first we have to be receptive to all the
good that knowing God offers. How do we do this?
How do we get to the point where we can refuse
to be overwhelmed by problems and, instead, allow
ourselves to be overwhelmed by God's love and
Spirit?
SIX PRACTICAL STEPS
Here are six practical and prayerful steps that
will enable us to free ourselves from the burden
of feeling overwhelmed so that we move through
challenges with ease, poise, and grace.
- BREATHE. Let's stop what we're doing
and breathe. It's amazing how calming this one
action can be. In the Bible, "breath"
stands for life and inspiration:
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the
breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
(Job
33:4)
When we breathe, we are allowing ourselves
to be overwhelmed by inspiration, flooded
with a new sense of life.
- When we breathe in, let's think about
breathing in (bringing in, filling up with)
all the good qualities from God -- love,
peace, joy, harmony, understanding, poise.
- When we breathe out, let's let go of all
the built-up tension we may have. Let go
of all the ungodly qualities that go hand-in-hand
with feeling overwhelmed -- stress, strain,
fear, worry, impatience, depression.
This process, which replaces tension with
ease and peace, enables us to be inspired.
The Bible tells us that inspiration provides
us with understanding:
But there is a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding. (Job
32:8)
Inspiration is key to defeating the overwhelmed
state of thought. Inspiration is the quality
of "allowing" or "letting"
things happen rather than trying to "make"
things happen.
- When we try to make things happen, we
often force things and create bigger problems
for ourselves. When we're not inspired,
we plod methodically through homework or
other tasks. Life seems dull and boring.
- But when we're inspired and allow things
to happen, we have a sense of freedom and
purpose. We allow ourselves the liberty
to wonder, think freely, and be creative.
We discover solutions to problems. We are
joyful.
- RELAX. Let's consciously relax our
muscles, our thoughts. We can do this while
we breathe in thoughts of peace. Take a break
and pray. Jesus said:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light. (Matt.
11:28-30)
What a difference it would be if we thought
of our "burdens" as "light!"
We would feel happy and carefree. Jesus had
more cause to feel overwhelmed and burdened
than any of us. Yet, he did not give into
the pressure; he did not quit, collapse, or
complain. Rather, he allowed God -- not persecution,
betrayal, or even death -- to overpower him
and fill him with a sense of confidence and
assurance. Though he knew what was coming,
he did not worry about it or ignore it. He
prepared for the crucifixion and resurrection
by living a God-directed life moment by moment.
He rested in God. As a result, he met each
and every challenge with a relaxed (not lazy)
and calm attitude because he knew wholeheartedly
that God was in charge.
- BE STILL AND LISTEN. Let's get quiet
so we can hear God's voice. It's easy to do
when we're still.
Feeling overwhelmed affects our overall attitude.
Our mental weather and, therefore, our actions
become stormy. We become short with others,
moody, or irritable. But the Bible gives us
hope:
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the
waves thereof are still. Then are they glad
because they be quiet; so he bringeth them
unto their desired haven. (Ps.
107:28-30)
God calms the storms on the ocean and in
our thoughts and lives and leads us to our
"desired haven." That promise is
powerful! God brings us to the place where
we want to go. We are "glad" because
we are "quiet." When we are quiet,
we can hear the "still small voice"
of God (I Kings 19:12). God's "still"
voice tells us the "who, what, where,
when, why, and how" of accomplishing
or fulfilling our tasks, goals, and dreams.
- YIELD AND TRUST. Let's allow God to
do things for us and trust in God's voice, which
we can hear when we're calm.
Once we hear God's voice, it's sometimes
tempting to ignore it because what we hear
doesn't go along with our plan for our lives.
That's when yielding and trusting come into
play. It's easier to yield when we realize
that our plan for our lives, even though it's
incredible, cannot possibly be as great as
God's plan for us. Why would we want to interfere
with God's plan by trying to do things in
our own way?
We have to remove the burden of planning
from off of our shoulders and place it where
it's supposed to go -- with God:
Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he
shall sustain thee.
(Ps. 55:22)
That's a pretty awesome promise -- God will
"sustain" us! But God requires us
to do some work: we have to "cast"
-- to yield, to let go. We don't have to make,
force, or fix. And if we're really yielding,
then we are turning everything about our lives
over to God, not just a few things. This takes
a tremendous amount of trust. If we're truly
trusting, then we "know" -- we don't
just think we know -- that God's will is operating
in our lives. Such trust gives us a sense
of peace.
-
LIVE IN THE NOW. Let's not worry about
the past or future. This is easy to do when
we're yielding up your lives to God and trusting
in Him each moment.
Even when we feel thoroughly confused, stressed,
and overwhelmed -- to the point that we want
to give up -- we can take comfort in knowing
that God doesn't give up on us. The Psalmist
wrote:
When my spirit was overwhelmed within
me, then thou knewest my path. (Ps.
142:3)
Isn't this a comforting thought? God knows
our path even if we don't. God is directing
each and every moment of our lives. Therefore,
we don't have to be concerned about what has
already happened or what may happen. Now,
there's nothing wrong with learning from the
past or preparing for the future. But if we
LIVE in the future or the past, we rob ourselves
of experiencing the good that is happening
NOW. The only real time and place we live
in is the present. We can make decisions about
the present, the now. All we need to do, a
friend of mine reminds us, is to ask ourselves
a simple but powerful question:
- What is the best thing for me to do at
this moment?
Living in the "now" allows us to
be fully present and do what we need to do.
And if it's the BEST thing for us to do, then
we can see our "to do" list as a
"get to do" list. Thus, we can lift
ourselves above a sense of burden. We can
enjoy the people we're with and enjoy the
things we're doing without feeling overwhelmed
that there are other things we "need"
to get done.
- MOVE FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE. Let's
confidently do the "best thing to do"
at the moment.
Once we have stopped to breathe, relaxed,
gotten still so that we can hear God's voice,
turned our lives over to God in complete trust,
and decided to live in the moment, then we
can move forward, knowing that we are doing
God's work.
Doing God's work is not a burden; it is a
joy! When we choose to love God supremely
and trust in Him, we have chosen to release
ourselves from the oppressive thoughts that
would overwhelm us and send us downward into
a pit of despair. We have chosen to be overwhelmed
by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be revitalized,
to be reborn anew. With such power and Spirit,
we can't help but heal -- heal ourselves and
others. And with such Spirit, we have an unlimited
sense of energy and joy that enables us to
move through our days. Our days may be full,
but they are now filled with the harmonious
rhythm of love. 
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