Devotion: 7 Ways to Overcome Feeling Overwhelmed

by Sherma Webbe Clarke | @sdwc8181 

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2) 

Do you have a red cape in your closet? Is there a power ring in your jewelry box? Can you tap into the Speed Force to become like The Flash, gaining the ability to move faster than light and cut through time and matter? If your answer is ‘no’, you’re not alone. But we give it a good try, don’t we? No wonder we are in jeopardy of burning out when we can’t accomplish everything on our to-do lists.

The Top Three 

The truth is, we can’t take care of others or do our best if we’re exhausted. Here are the top three lifelines that I cling to when I’m feeling overwhelmed: 

Pray 

I believe prayer should be our first step in any situation, not the last resort. Let God give you a fresh perspective. After all, He sees the entire situation and is already in the future and has worked things out for us. When we cry out, He answers with an invitation: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) 

Worship

When I worship in the midst of chaotic 21st-century life, it’s a matter of allowing my mind to get distracted by the wonder and majesty of God. Sometimes my hands pop into the air in praise. At other times, I press my eyes closed and imagine the splendor of heaven. 

Read the Bible

Turn to Bible truths to combat stress and worry. It's like finding treasure. Biblical accounts of others help us see God’s faithfulness. His promises can be found throughout His Word. The Psalms are a good place to start. 

When You’re Prayed Up But Still Need a Break 

We’re fearfully and wonderfully made, fashioned in the image of God. We have interests, abilities, and curiosity about the world around us. These are gifts we can use to shift our perspectives when we expect to pack 35 hours of continuous action into a single day. There are better options than pushing ourselves into exhaustion. 

Here are four: 

Engage in a hobby

Even when free time is a luxury, favorite pastimes can be squeezed into our schedules. Snap a picture of a sunset, a rare flower, or your kids' big smiles. Cycle to an appointment. A few compromises can allow us to infuse some fun into our routines.

Help someone else 

Is there a way to use your talents or gifts to ease someone’s burden? A friend of mine has a heart for writing poetry for those going through difficult times. She has blessed many people with her comforting words. 

Record a song 

I hope you don’t mind this bit of whimsy. You don’t have to upload the recording to YouTube—or even keep it. Not feeling so dramatic? Hum your favorite song while doing chores. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it helps to make a joyful noise. 

Talk it out 

Find a trusted friend, family member, your pastor, or if necessary, mental health professional. Don’t be afraid or ashamed to seek help. We are social beings, and we weren’t meant to struggle alone. As it turns out, God has many ways to show me how to guard against becoming too busy. I’ll share more in another post. In the meantime, what strategies do you suggest? Let’s see how many we have in common. 

About Sherma... 

SHERMA WEBBE CLARKE is a contemporary fiction writer and a 2017 ACFW First Impressions Finalist. Her inspirational writing has been included in Christian devotional books: Grace Notes and Blessed. She loves to take her husband by the hand to explore nearby and far-flung areas of the globe. This wanderlust has its perks. She credits many of her story ideas to these adventures. Quiet, early-morning walks along the railroad trails on her home island of Bermuda provide inspiration when she is homebound.

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Caleb and the Cotton Candy Calamity – A Thanks-Not-Giving Story

Children do some things fabulously well. Joy is one of them. They spin around, sing, shout, giggle, and run with wild abandon. You know why? They don’t carry their burdens. They know they depend on everyone for everything all the time. Dependency is their way of life. Bravo, kids. I want to be more like you. 

But they are fabulously terrible at other things. 

Once upon a time, a first-grader named Caleb got to go to Disneyland. His parents saved for months. They drove for days. They walked for hours, from ride to ride, show to show, souvenir shop to souvenir shop. His parents bypassed the coolest rides, shows, and restaurants because Caleb was too young for them and this trip was for him. 

Then somewhere between standing in line to get Phineas and Ferb autographs and a character meal, young Caleb decided he wanted cotton candy. If they were to stop for cotton candy (there was a long line for that too) they would be late for the character meal, so they didn’t get the cotton candy. 

Caleb was cross. He complained about the walk, about the heat, about the bags, and about the crowds. When Lilo & Stitch came his way at the restaurant, he turned away, fighting back tears. 

Dad talked to Caleb about how hard they’d worked to make that trip a success and about all the fun things they’d done already. He told Caleb he was yet to hear a “thank you.” 

Caleb lowered his head, let the tears fall, and said, “thank you.” 

No, I don’t have a boy named Caleb. I made him up after hearing my pastor talk about a similar situation during one of their family trips to Disney. But we all know a Caleb—we’re probably raising one. 

Surely we’re quick to spot thanklessness in our children, like David was quick to spot the error of the rich man in Nathan’s parable of the ewe lamb. But how about us? Are we like Caleb toward God? Do we cry and whine about cotton candy when He’s taken us to Disneyland? 

I know I am. Getting published is my cotton candy. I have all the things I really need and plenty of extras, but that cotton candy (so fluffy, so sweet, and so pink!) allures daily. Like Caleb, sometimes I’m so busy wanting cotton candy that I forget to thank my Heavenly Father for all He’s given me already. 

Good thing God loves us even when we act like rotten kids. Good thing He forgives us as often as we confess, and delivers us every time we cry unto Him. But I don’t want to treat God like my kids treat me half the time. Good grief. I don’t want to be like children when it comes to thanks-not-giving. 

Psalm 107:8 (and 15, and 21, and 31) – “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” 

I’m so sorry for taking my many blessings for granted sometimes, Lord. Thank you for Disneyland, for the rides, for the souvenirs, and for all the wonderful adventures—no cotton candy required. 

What’s your cotton candy?

Patricia Beal is a Christian author, Army wife, and ballerina. She writes contemporary fiction and is represented by Leslie Stobbe of the Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency. She’s a 2015 Genesis semi-finalist and First Impressions finalist. 

Patricia is from Brazil and immigrated to America in 1992. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati in 1998 with a B.A. in English Literature. After an internship at the Pentagon, she worked as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army for seven years. 

She and her husband live in El Paso, Texas, with their two children. 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/patricia.beal.author 
Twitter - https://twitter.com/bealpat 
Web - www.patriciabeal.com

Gratitude

I’ve recently been reading Deeper Places Experiencing God in the Psalms. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16234349-deeper-places. This book is written by Matthew Jacoby, pastor at a Baptist church in Victoria and singer with the band Sons of Korah, http://www.sonsofkorah.com/ whose music is based on the psalms. I have greatly enjoyed it and found lots of helpful insights. One that was not new but is one I think we often need to be reminded of is about the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness for all God has done and continues to do for us each day. So this is a list of some of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful to God for the many years my husband and I have had together and look forward to more to come. It’s a great blessing to be walking with God together, starting each day with prayer and learning from God’s Word together.

One of the things would have to be the area where we live. It is a beautiful area. Each day my husband and I give thanks that God has brought us here.  But on Christmas morning as well as remembering the gift of the birth of Jesus, God sent us this sunrise.

 

It felt like a special gift from God for that day.

I am also thankful for having family all together between Christmas and New Year. Yes, it was noisy, filled with laughter and chatter with all the grandchildren and six adults in our not so large house but it was also a lot of fun. I praise God too that our son and daughter are walking with the Lord and teaching their children His ways. What a blessing that is!

I am thankful for the church God called us to, a church where God’s word is faithfully preached and where we were made to feel welcome from the moment we set foot in the door on that first day. This year will see some big changes for our church in some areas and that is a little daunting but also exciting to see what God will do.

I am thankful for the beach close by and opportunities to go and walk along the beach and swim.

I have been swimming more since we moved here than ever in my life before.

I am thankful for good and lasting friendships from years ago that survive despite distance between us and also for those who have spring up and bloomed since we moved here. I’m thankful for writerly friends who are always prepared to help each other with knowledge and advice.

I praise God for the gift of music. My music taste is pretty eclectic and runs the gamut from 60s rock to opera, ballads from the 1940sand 1950s, jazz, gospel, hymns old and modern and a whole heap more. Just about anything that has words I can sing along with.

I am thankful for the colour blue. Of all God’s colours and I love colour, blue is my favourite. I love the changing blues of the sea which is sometimes a greenish blue or turquoise, and other times a greyish blue, the blue of the sky, and the blue of flowers.

No surprise to learn my study is blue and so are other walls in our house.  It’s a colour I wear a lot, in all shades but teal is a particular favourite.  Red and purple, pink and black are other favourite colours.

I am thankful to God for my eyesight and being able to see the wonders of God’s creation as well as being able to read the Bible and so many other books. I could keep going as there are so many things to be grateful to God for. After all I wouldn’t even be able to draw the next breath if it weren’t for God. I’m thankful that He guides, protects, and enables me in tasks He has called me to do and that He is with me each day.

So at the start of this New Year what are some of the things that you are thankful for and that make you especially grateful to God? Please share them with us.

Seasons of Waiting

Photo courtesy of Michael Elliott
/freedigitalphotos.net

We writers wait a lot.

I expect for most of us the production process of drafting a manuscript is an active one, however, there will be times we will be waiting for feedback from others before we proceed to the next stage.

When we’ve completed the manuscript we can expect to wait a lot. Critique groups, editors, agents, publishers all keep us waiting.

Finally a day may arrive when we have an illusive contract for that manuscript we have given so much of our heart and time to. After celebrating with our loved ones and those who’ve supported us through the journey, the publishing process commences. It takes time, typically 12 to 18 months after contract signing. There’s more editing, a cover design to create, even more edits, printing and distributing. So we wait some more.

Launch day arrives. We’re actively promoting our new baby in all manner of ways. Then we wait. For those first sales and then the first reviews.

I’ve laboured the point. But what do we do through the waiting?

Especially when none of what we wait for is a given? Will our proposal be accepted, will our editor like our work, will we make any sales and heck, what will readers think of it?

But didn’t God birth this desire in our heart?

Biblical lessons

It’s interesting how much of the Bible involves people waiting. Waiting for God to do what He said He would. Why did Moses spend 40 years herding goats in the wilderness, and Abraham 25 years before the son God promised him was born? Paul spent years in caves being transformed by the Holy Spirit before his ministry to the Gentiles commenced.

“How long, O Lord, how long?” (Psalm 6:3b)

I can’t recall how many times I’ve beseeched the Lord along similar lines through this writing life.

Why is waiting beneficial?

I’ve been studying the psalms recently and one commentator stated the authors of the Psalms, including David, wrote them in periods of waiting. Most of David’s were written when he was in exile, a fugitive on the run from King Saul, before he could step into his God-anointed role as King.

Are you in one of those frustrating seasons of waiting? Or for something else? I’d encourage you to take solace in the psalms. Waiting isn’t necessarily passive:

“It involves longing, anticipating, yearning. It is seeking. It is, in other words, the exercising of one’s desire for God.”¹

I like this quote from Jeff Goins, who recently released a book that is all about waiting: The In-Between- Embracing the Tension between the Now and the Next Big Thing.

"Moments of breakthrough are not where life’s greatest transformation happens; the stuff that God uses to shape us often lies in the in-between."

Paul's heart was shaped in the waiting as was David's.

A verse that has taken on greater prominence for me this year is Psalm 37:4-

“Take delight in the Lord,

and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Life doesn't usually stop or even slow down when we're waiting as writers. However, next time you're in a season of waiting, pause to take some time to reflect, to press in even more to the Lord, meditate on His Word and be especially grateful for all His blessings.

Who knows we might even come to enjoy the wait?

Note: 1. “Deeper Places, Experiencing God in the Psalms, Matthew Jacoby (Baker Books 2013) page 95.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel, Angelguard, was released recently in US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter