I know the feeling of being overwhelmed. I lived there a lot in my early years. It was primarily due to my insecurities and the need to be a big success. I hope I can say a few things that might encourage you not to give up if you are overwhelmed today. Or possibly in the near future.
The words ‘hurry’, ‘now,’ and ‘quickly’ describes an out-of-control life. I think we, as Americans, pack more into our schedule than any other culture. We’re obsessed with going faster. We buy things if the name indicates speed. We ship items using Federal Express. We have a long-distance carrier called Sprint. We balance our checkbook with Quicken. We even diet with Slim Fast. For some skinny “sick-o’s,” you get your bathing suits from Speed-O.
But in addition to the speed, our lives are very complex. We are multi-dimensional. We have several components in our lives. We have the element of children, family, work, recreation, and our spiritual life. I am sure there are other components that I have not mentioned.
We realize how overwhelmed we are when we slow down long enough to think about all these components. The crazy thing is we see fatigue as normal. We’ve come to accept it. When we’re overwhelmed, we experience stress, fatigue, frustration, anger, fear, tears, illness, and pressure, which can hurt our relationships with others.
However you may be feeling at this very moment, you know… “This is not right.” This is not how life was meant to be lived. This is not what God had in mind when He made us. Maybe there is something to the Scripture that says, “Cease striving and know that I am God.” Or, “I came that you might have life and life to its fullness.”
Jesus, the man, knew the feeling of pressure. When you read the gospels, you readily see that Jesus was always in demand. Therefore, He often withdrew from the crowds to be alone. One day Jesus looked up at a group of people who were tired and weary like many of us today. He made a promise that stands to this day: "If you’re tired, if you’re weary, if you have heavy burdens, come to Me, and I will give you rest.” The paraphrase of Matthew 11 from The Message says this, “Are you tired, worn out, burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me. Watch how I do it.” Notice he said, “Watch how I do it.”