Remember This When You’ve Had Enough Of Life

Have you had times when it all feels like too much? If so, I can relate.

Life has a way of overwhelming us, with bills piling up and jobs becoming unbearable. It feels like we’re losing control, unable to conjure up money or make our problems magically vanish. So, what’s the answer?

Turn to God. In this blog post, I’ll share my top tips for tired Christians and show you how to find refuge in God when it all feels like too much.

 

Today I woke up feeling really defeated. I went to bed as light as a feather. I slept well and had a number of awesomely weird dreams.

But I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed and under-loved.

Sometimes life feels like a smorgasbord of a disaster waiting to happen (if it hasn’t already).

At times I wonder if I’m strong enough to stand up under the weight of it all.

Have you ever asked yourself this question? Has there ever been a time in your life when you wondered if you could seriously do “this”?

I’m sure you have.

At various points in our walk with Jesus, we come face to face with our human weakness. Even Paul, as much of the warrior that he was, was forced to admit that on his own he just isn’t enough (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

When he wants to do the right thing his flesh seeks to do the opposite. (Romans 7:19-25)

Each time he has to trust God and surrender if it feels like a physical war between heart and heaven.

I mean, sure, your spiritual side wants to please God and wants to surrender, but your flesh doesn’t. If your flesh were allowed to have its way it would try to solve every single problem you faced “the world’s way”.

 

Coming Face To Face With My Own Weakness

I am a weak person.

I mess up, say the wrong things, get ahead of myself (a lot) and sometimes hurt the wrong people for what I think are the right reasons.

I’m a whole mess.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the grace continuously poured our for me daily I don’t know where I would be.

Since February of this year, my life has changed a lot. Doors have been opening and seasons have been changing, but one thing’s for sure.

God has been revealing my weaknesses one by one by one:

My inability to trust.

The need I had to be in control.

My desire to be right.

God has been peeling back the layers and making it abundantly clear that if I’m to fully step into this new season of my life I have to let these idols go. I have to learn how to completely trust Him. I need to desire righteousness not “rightness”.

I must learn to let go.

And, it is hard.

It’s hard to admit my shortcomings; my flaws; my weaknesses.

I mean, we all have them but it’s easier to swallow the people of “humanity” when your flaws aren’t being put on “show”for all the world to see, especially the ones closest to you.

 

 

I Know I’m Not Strong Enough Alone

There’s a song by Matthew West that I sang a lot when I was waiting to hear if I had gotten accepted into the JET Programme. It’s called Strong Enough.

In the song, Matthew admits that he knows he is not strong enough to be everything he’s supposed to be. He also gives up and asks God to take over. You can listen to the full song below.

In their song “Sleep In The Storm“, the lead singer tells us that “I’m finished fighting and trying to hold back the floods“. At first, I thought it meant that he would just up.

The more I listen to both of these songs, the more I realize that these men aren’t just giving up and walking away from their problems.

No.

As I listen to the words, I understand that sometimes, to allow God’s work in our lives, we must step back. We must give up. We have to admit that we aren’t strong enough.

In this way, God’s strength can be made perfect in our weakness as the bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10. The bible wasn’t mistaken when it says that in our weakness, God is most definitely strongest.

 

Moving Forward When Overwhelmed

It’s hard for me to move forward when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I often feel stuck, exposed and vulnerable, and I hate that.

It leads me to lash out in the wrong way in an attempt to protect the parts of me that are exposed. I’ve also come to realize that I eat my emotions, and that’s something I have to try really hard to not do.

Moving forward when you’re feeling overwhelmed is hard.

But God.

This morning I went to the dry cleaners to drop off a dress that needed cleaning. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized something.

I had this dirty dress.

Sure I could have tried to clean it on my own regardless of how big it was. I could have bought all the cleaning products, took the time and tried to get the stains and makeup out.

But it would have been a huge task. It would probably have taken me hours upon hours of work to get it all done. I could have messed it all up.

Since I wasn’t strong enough to do this job on my own it made sense to leave it to the professionals. And that’s how we need to think about our life.

When things get overwhelming, it isn’t our job to fix things on our own. What we need to do is to leave it to the professional.

We need to leave it to God.

 

 

God Is All We Need

If I were to sit down and count all the times I tried to help God do His job, I’d be out of fingers and toes. And each time I tried to help Him or tried to nudge things along, my situation only got worse.

Why?

Because God is all we need.

God doesn’t need our help to get things done. He didn’t need our help to create the heavens. He didn’t need our help in getting Jesus off that cross. And He surely doesn’t need our help to fix the things in our lives that have gone awry.

This is a lesson I’m still learning.

God is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present and all-loving. There is nothing He can’t do for us if we ask. Just because we ask, doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen this very minute or even in the way we’d like it to.

A lot of the times, God needs to give us time to be molded and shaped into a person who can handle the blessing coming our way.

God has to teach us the lessons we need to learn before we get our miracle.

God has to change our heart and our habits.

 

Why Do You Sometimes Have to Walk Through Fire?

Sometimes, God has to give us time to walk in the fire and wade in the storm so that when we get to the other side, we will be better than we were before.

I’m gonna be honest. I’ve been having writer’s block for a few months now. Every time I went to write a podcast episode or anything for that matter, nothing came. 

I was completely uninspired.

Throughout this process of waiting, God has laid it on my heart to write down the process, so here I am doing just that.

If it wasn’t for the fire, the storms, the insanity that is my life right now, this pen wouldn’t have touched this paper.

I don’t know who this message is for but I’m writing it because I believe there’s someone out there who will need to read these words one day. 

It might even be me.

When life feels overwhelming and everything feels like it’s just too much, don’t try to be strong on your own. Don’t try to see things through your own eyes.

Go to God.

Admit your weakness.

And let His strength take over.

All my love,