Shana could feel herself going down. It was as if someone had their hands on her neck pushing her further and further down. She fought as hard as she could until she could no longer resist. Only thing, it was not a person. It was her situation. To put it simply, because of what was happening in her life, Shana was feeling overwhelmed. How could she overcome overwhelm?
Have you every felt like Shana? Maybe this is where you are. It hits us at some point, doesn’t it? Here are 3 simple ways to overcome overwhelm and reduce the likelihood of it happening.
#1 Overcome Overwhelm by Knowing Who You Are
There is a basic knowing that you must embrace if you are going to overcome overwhelm. It goes like this: You are a beautiful and unique person created by a loving God who loves you unconditionally and forever. Nothing can change that.
When you accept this, you will live into your uniqueness and avoid a pitfall that leads to overwhelm. That pitfall is trying to be like someone else and/or match what someone else has done and/or have what someone else has. When you fall into this pitfall you then try to overcompensate and end up overloading yourself. Before you know it you are overwhelmed.
#2 Overcome Overwhelm by Following God’s Pattern
Not only do you need to know who you are as in how God sees you, you also need to follow God’s pattern. There’s an order that’s easy to miss and missing it leads to overwhelm. What is this order?
Work hard. Step back and enjoy each phase of your work. Celebrate it. Take a day to rest. Think of how different your life would be if you followed this. Yet, you feel guilty when you look at something you did and say, “This is good” or, “We did a good job on this.” Note that this is not bragging. This is simply celebrating the way in which you have used what God gave you, then resting in that space for a moment.
In case you’re wondering where this pattern and order come from, check out Genesis 1–2:3.
#3 Overcome Overwhelm by Releasing
When you celebrate do you hold on to it like a badge? Or, conversely if you mess up for some reason do you carry it with you, turning it over and over in your mind? If you’re carrying either, you are carrying weights that lead to the build up of overwhelm. What you need to do is celebrate, give God thanks, and move on. Mourn a little if things didn’t go the right way, ask God to teach you, give God thanks, and move on.
What does move on mean? It means that you are releasing everything to God in prayer and carrying only the lessons that God has given you. These are lessons to make you stronger and better the next time.
Overwhelm is real. However, you don’t have to succumb to it. If you do, you don’t have to stay there. Know who you are in God, follow God’s pattern, and release everything to God. You can and should overcome overwhelm.
During this month of May we will be looking at overcoming in everyday life so that you get closer to God and gain a deeper understanding of who God is to live with confidence. Look out for our next blog post where we’ll deal with overcoming stress.
In the meantime, check out this video for more tips on overcoming overwhelm and get your checklist for overcoming overwhelm.
Get closer to God and gain a deeper understanding of who God is.
Photo credit: Gromovataya /of Pixabay.com
