Life.....Driving Me Crazy!!!!

When my heart is overwhelmed, 

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:2 

 

If we were to look at all that is going on in your life, job, and mind...what would we discover?  I'm willing we would discover many who are either on the verge of, or already, overwhelmed by everything.  We have quite the balancing act to perform while we are on this Earth.  

 

We have family issues (finances, activities, juggling childcare, clothing, housing, food, transportation, where to we go first for Christmas/Thanksgiving, what do we need to do not to offend the family members, and on and on); 

 

We have job issues (am I doing a good job, will I be able to get promoted, how do I stay out of the gossip/politics, how am I going to afford the new insurance rates, what mood is the boss in today, how can I find time for vacation when I have projects that need my input, does my family come first or does the job, and on and on and on);

 

We have relationship issues (Does he/she like me, have I messed up, he/she ticks me off with her actions/words/inaction/silence, how can we have a relationship with my crazy schedule,  how do I deal with the people who insist on criticizing my very existence, how do I repair this broken relationship or do I even want to, is this relationship good for me or is it creating more stress than it's worth, and on and on);

 

Toss into the mix the daily items of which we have no control (traffic, engine trouble, weather, etc.) and it is amazing that we haven't crawled into a cave to wait it out.  We feel the stress and anxiety mounting with unrelenting progress and the faster we try to keep juggling everything the more frantic we become until we finally just can't take it anymore.

 

What happens when we become overwhelmed?  We begin to doubt our worth.  We begin to feel as though we are a failure.  We lash out at others because they seem to be able to handle the pressure better than we can. Our neck and back muscles  begin to knot and even the chiropractor can't unknot our knots.  Our sleep gets disrupted because our mind won't shut down, OR we can't seem to get enough sleep because we don't want to face the world any longer. Our health begins to decline. And finally, we begin to shut down.

 

So what do we do? Allow me to offer some helps, please note this is not a complete list by any stretch, but hopefully something will offer a bit of relief:

1. TAKE TIME OFF!  I know, you don't believe you have the time to get away, but you do.  So what if the project moves forward without you.  It your health declines because you won't take time to recharge, the project will still move forward without you.
2. FOCUS ON THE IMPORTANT! If your home life is in turmoil, it will bleed into your work which will cause your work to suffer.  God provided you a family for a reason, embrace them.  Make them your place of refuge!  If you are dating, your relationship status will take a toll on your performance in every other aspect of your life.  Therefore, if the relationship is building you up and making your WHOLE life better, good.  If you are left constantly wondering if this is going to work out....walk away.
3.  Take Care of YOU!  God only gave the universe ONE you!  You are the only you EVER!  Therefore, take care of you...your health, your sleep, your life, your everything.  Remember, the same God who keeps the seas from enveloping the world is the same God who holds you in His hand and knows how many hairs you have.
4. Learn To Let Go! "Life is simple, it is we who complicate it."  I love The Big Bang Theory!  There are many wonderful quotes from that program, but my favorite is from Sheldon "Life is simply the breathing, taking in nourishment, and expelling waste.  The rest is unnecessary."  If you have more activities than you can keep track of, eliminate some of them.  And, at the risk of offending parents, children do NOT need to have so many activities that you are merely a taxi!
5. Rely on the ONE Who is in Control!  God is God.....we are not.  God loves us beyond our ability to comprehend.  God is the one who should be our primary focus because He is the one with the plan for each of us.  Talk with Him.  Talk with Him a LOT!  Talk with Him about EVERYTHING! 

Are You Draggin'?

Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs him down,
but an encouraging word brings him joy.

Proverbs 12:25

When I talk with people, I usually will start with the simple question of "How are you doing?".  Now...chances are, when I ask that question, I am already aware that rainbows and unicorns aren't what you have in your life.  So if your answer is the cliche "I'm good", "Fine", "Okay", "I'm not unwell, thank you", or "Go away Padre", you are confirming to me the knowledge that there's something going on that you're holding in.

Stress and Anxiety are HEAVY burdens to tote around.  We don't like for people to know we are stressed about how we're going to make it from month to month.  We don't like people to know that we are uncertain of how to handle a situation we have encountered.  We don't like for people to know that our relationships are strained to the breaking point.  We don't like people to know.....  Why? Because if we admit that we are stressed or anxious, then we have to admit that we aren't as strong as we want others to see us as being.

Couple of things to understand about stress....if not resolved (we tend to push stress down and hope it will go away), stress will destroy you!  Plain and simple.  The other thing you need to know is that there is no quick fix for stress release.  Slapping a band-aid on a gunshot will not stop the problem, and neither will a simple chat.  

Here are some practical (actions you can take) to help you deal with stress:
     1.  Write it out!  Whatever is in you mind, write it down.  Doesn't have to make sense because you are giving your mind the voice to get the pieces out so they can eventually be processed.
     2.  Give yourself permission to feel overwhelmed.  Not while you are driving, but when you can have time to let it go.  You can cry, you can yell, you can throw pillows (so no walls get damaged), you can even just sit and think.
     3.  Talk with someone who can give you some perspective.  Understand, you aren't the first person to deal with stress and you won't be the last.
     4.  Ask yourself: "Is this issue worth stressing over?"  Most times, when we realize the true size of the issue, the answer is NO.  
     5.  Accept that there are those of us who want to help you release the stress!

Squeezed?

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

James 1:2-4 

 

Have you ever been under a deadline or under so much pressure from those higher up the food chain that you felt overwhelmed?  Have you ever considered it a curse not to cuss sometimes?  Have you ever been fed up?  Have you ever thought "oh, THIS isn't going to go well"?  Have you ever been so anxious and uptight that you just couldn't sleep?  Me too.

 

How about this, have you ever had so much fun doing something that you did it over and over but each time it just wasn't as much fun as that first time?

Most of my life seems to have been the model for "Murphy's Law" (if there is a way for it to go wrong, it will).  NOW, I can look back on parts of my life and chuckle.  But some parts, I'm still struggling to deal with.

But look at what James is reminding us...we WILL have problems.  We're going to have issues.  We're going to have pressure.  And when those times come, and we are squeezed, our true nature will show!

 

I admit, I was riding one night with one of Richland Counties finest, when we had to quietly exit the car.  I quietly eased my door closed and my finger got in the way.  I confess the things that came out of my mouth were far short of "Yea, verily and peace unto thee."  But once freed from that dilemma, I did apologize for my words.  The stunned deputy looked at me in amazement and said, "Pinocchio, you ARE a real boy!"

 

As we go through life, we're going to have struggles.  God never promised us otherwise!  But remember, if we only have good times we'll forget that we need God.  When we have struggles, then we appreciate how much God does for us when that struggle has passed.

 

We seldom realize how much God loves us until we look back at all He's brought us through.  

Just A Little...

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 

 

The night had been spent tossing and turning because my mind kept running through my calendar for the the next day to make sure I had not forgotten to enter an appointment (my mind doesn't seem to be able to keep track the way it used to). 

 

Plus, I had forgotten to pick up my prescription for sleep meds.  

 

Plus, so far this year, let's just say I am truly looking forward to 2016 being over.  

 

PLUS I still have classes to facilitate and get the needed materials together and in order.  

 

PLUS family issues to deal with.

 

PLUS I have a list of projects that need to be completed.

 

PLUS.....PLUS......PLUS......the load never seems to get lighter and the stress never seems to let up, does it?

 

It was one of those days where I realized there was not enough coffee in the Universe to give me the strength to complete everything that was staring me in the face from my calendar.

 

To say I felt more then a bit overwhelmed would be an ENORMOUS understatement!!!

 

Then today's passage was this morning's devotional, and I breathed a prayer of gratitude that even history's most energetic, stubborn, and dedicated Apostle felt overwhelmed.

 

As I sat with my coffee pondering today's passage, I couldn't help but hear the James Bond theme song in my mind along with his famous catch-phrase "shaken....not stirred."  Now, I'm no James Bond and am not a fan of martinis, but I realized that I NEEDED to be shaken in order to be stirred into action (see what I did there?).  The fact was, I had gotten complacent and had forgotten that it's okay to say "I'm sorry, I just simply cannot fit another thing into my calendar today."  It's okay to take care of myself.  It's okay to realize that I am not a superhero who can wear tights (wipe THAT image from you mind if you can) and who can swoop in to solve everyone's problems.  It's OKAY!

 

The Apostle Paul was stressed and overwhelmed to the point he thought he would die!  That is pretty overwhelmed!  Jesus even was so stressed over His upcoming trial, torture and execution that He had sweat droplets running down His face like blood.  So feeling overwhelmed is okay...we are in good company.

 

I realize this is a bit of a long read today, and I thank you for reading this far, but let me give you a few PRACTICAL ways of helping alleviate some stress:

     *    Take care of yourself.  Yes, I just punched myself in the face on that one.  If you don't take care of you, then how can you take care of others.

     *     Realize that you have only 24 hours in each day, and some of that time needs to be spent resting and sleeping.

     *     Learn to limit what you need and want to do each day.

     *     When you feel overwhelmed, don't be afraid to ask for help.  Even if it's just to unload some of the stress by talking it out.  Sometimes a different perspective can alleviate stress.

 

It's okay to be human....you are in good company! 

Time? Who's Got Time To Look?

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1

You all know about my love affair with coffee. Yes, I firmly admit it, I love coffee and drink copious amounts.  But this morning, I was challenged on this by, of all people, the person selling me my 7th cup of coffee.  She said, "How much do you have going on in your life that you need so much coffee?"

And THAT started the thought process.  We consume Monster Drinks, Red Bull, 5-hour Energy and so many other products that give us that boost when we begin to feel run down.  Then we wonder why we also have so many products that help us sleep.  

Why is that?  Is it because we truly HAVE so much we must accomplish in our day that we just cannot get it all done so we can get enough rest before having to get up and do it all over again?

I am convinced that God has given us this entire world to learn from and we spend more time ignoring it.  When a dog, cat, gerbil, pig, cow, goat or any other animal gets tired, what to they do?  They rest!  When they need to get up and go, they move.  But the fact is THEY do what WE should be doing.  We have been given time to do what is NEEDED!  Yet we choose to cram our time so full that the very thing that is NEEDED (rest) gets booted out of the boat.

Then we wonder why we get stressed (for which there are countless pills and elixirs to help) why we feel anxious, depressed, exhausted, and defeated.  Time Management is the key.  For there is a time for EVERY matter under heaven...we just have to decide what matters enough for us to invest our time. 

Why Are YOU Here?

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13

Let me ask you something, have you ever thought of everything you need to accomplish and almost crumple with the weight of that realization?  Have you ever looked at all the task you undertake and wonder "so THIS is what my life has become"?  Are you ready to change that?

Look at today's passage....God told Elijah to go stand on the mountain.  When Elijah did that, God passed by and everything became very overwhelming for Elijah (kind of like what happens when you look at your calendar and wonder how you're going to get everything done and remain sane).  

First, the windstorm hit the mountain.  This was not just a gentle breeze!  This was a wind that was strong enough to tear rocks loose! But if Elijah focused on the windstorm (aka, projects, paperwork, reports, telephone calls...), he would get distracted and not realize that God was not in the windstorm.

Next, there was an earthquake! And since the wind had torn rocks loose, the earthquake sent them bouncing and crashing all over the mountain.  But if Elijah focused on the earthquake (aka, meetings, seminars, classes, presentations....), he would get distracted and not realize that God was not in the earthquake.

Finally, there was a fire!  Fire that heated the stone until it cracked and smoke that made it hard to breathe or find your direction. But if Elijah focused on the fire (aka, children's activity schedules, family schedules, appointments, holiday gatherings, church activities, community activities.....), he would get distracted and not realize that God is not in the fire.

Where is God?  Elijah had all this mess going on and crashing down around him, overwhelming him, and God WHISPERS to him "Why are you HERE?".

Let me tell you a little something, it's okay to be busy.  It's okay to have activities.  It's okay to have a lot going on.  HOWEVER, it's NOT okay to leave God out of everything.  We seem to believe that we just don't have any room for God during our busy-ness and when we finally flop into bed exhausted from our day, we don't seem to have room for God then either.  And we wonder why we are so anxious, stressed, and upset?  We wonder why we take medications to help us sleep, keep us calm, and gulp down energy drinks by the tanker truck full?

As you go through your day, make God your first and primary focus:  "Father, today is going to be busy, but thank YOU that You are with me.  Help me to reflect You in everything we do today, and if I screw up...help me reflect You there too."

Jesus reminds us: "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16)

Why are you HERE?  To reflect God in everything you do.  Put Him first and let Him do His job!   

Why Are YOU Here?

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:11-13

Let me ask you something, have you ever thought of everything you need to accomplish and almost crumple with the weight of that realization?  Have you ever looked at all the task you undertake and wonder "so THIS is what my life has become"?  Are you ready to change that?

Look at today's passage....God told Elijah to go stand on the mountain.  When Elijah did that, God passed by and everything became very overwhelming for Elijah (kind of like what happens when you look at your calendar and wonder how you're going to get everything done and remain sane).  

First, the windstorm hit the mountain.  This was not just a gentle breeze!  This was a wind that was strong enough to tear rocks loose! But if Elijah focused on the windstorm (aka, projects, paperwork, reports, telephone calls...), he would get distracted and not realize that God was not in the windstorm.

Next, there was an earthquake! And since the wind had torn rocks loose, the earthquake sent them bouncing and crashing all over the mountain.  But if Elijah focused on the earthquake (aka, meetings, seminars, classes, presentations....), he would get distracted and not realize that God was not in the earthquake.

Finally, there was a fire!  Fire that heated the stone until it cracked and smoke that made it hard to breathe or find your direction. But if Elijah focused on the fire (aka, children's activity schedules, family schedules, appointments, holiday gatherings, church activities, community activities.....), he would get distracted and not realize that God is not in the fire.

Where is God?  Elijah had all this mess going on and crashing down around him, overwhelming him, and God WHISPERS to him "Why are you HERE?".

Let me tell you a little something, it's okay to be busy.  It's okay to have activities.  It's okay to have a lot going on.  HOWEVER, it's NOT okay to leave God out of everything.  We seem to believe that we just don't have any room for God during our busy-ness and when we finally flop into bed exhausted from our day, we don't seem to have room for God then either.  And we wonder why we are so anxious, stressed, and upset?  We wonder why we take medications to help us sleep, keep us calm, and gulp down energy drinks by the tanker truck full?

As you go through your day, make God your first and primary focus:  "Father, today is going to be busy, but thank YOU that You are with me.  Help me to reflect You in everything we do today, and if I screw up...help me reflect You there too."

Jesus reminds us: "You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14-16)

Why are you HERE?  To reflect God in everything you do.  Put Him first and let Him do His job!