How to Defeat Overwhelm
Overwhelm is something I have battled throughout the years of my adult life. In my quest to earn the approval of others through achievement and success, fighting feelings of overwhelm is something I have known intimately well. While I have made progress in this area, this continues to be something God is working in my heart. That is why I loved this blog post from my friend and colleague, Kelli Garms. Kelli is an educator, writer and bible study teacher who takes every day concepts and lines them up with scripture to get to the heart of the matter. Her blog post below spoke directly to me!
You can check out Kelli’s blog directly here at: https://www.kelligarms.com/blog/
And stay tuned for her upcoming series on how to Study the Bible! Go to www.kelligarms.com for more information!
Enjoy!
I was recently reminded that overwhelm happens for one of two reasons:
You are doing more than God asked you to do, or
You are trying to do it in your own strength.
The first step in defeating overwhelm is to figure out which one of these two things is causing it. Did He ask you to do everything you’re doing? Have you taken something on without asking Him about it? Did you commit to doing something because you were intimidated or afraid to say “no”? If you’re not sure, ask Him. He will gladly show you what is on your plate that He didn’t put there.
If you can unequivocally say He called you to everything you’re doing, then ask Him to give you the strength to complete the task. You can’t do it in your own strength, and He doesn’t want you to try. He wants to show you that, when you lean into Him, you’ll never run out of energy, focus, or desire to complete the task. He’s waiting to help you; just let Him.
Here’s the catch: you have to be willing to give up the things He didn’t ask you to do, and you have to relinquish control if He did call you to it. This is much easier said than done, but again, He will give you the wisdom and strength to do both if you ask Him.