Overwhelmed

Day one hundred forty-six

I'll be honest, I did not want to get out of bed this morning and face the list of things that I need to do today, some days just seem more overwhelming than others.  So I laid in bed for a few extra minutes thinking of ways to make the day seem less stressful and formulating a plan.  I realized that a lot of my concerns were about meeting the needs of others today, its the mom in me.  So the first thing I would do is start with a meaningful prayer letting God know what is on my mind and asking Him to take care of those people that I cannot today.  Then I asked Him to guide my scripture study in a direction that would lift my spirit and put me back on track in the attitude department.  Last, I would ask Him to help me recognize the blessings that are in my life and keep my priorities straight.

It wasn't long before my first two blessings were made clear to me, my sons.  I get up every morning with them so that we can visit a little before they are off to school.  I don't know that it makes that much difference to them that I am there when they leave, but it means a lot to me.  It is my opportunity to let them know that I love them before they leave.    

This morning my oldest son came and sat down and started sharing with me the success he has been experiencing in his weightlifting class.  He has noticed that his hard work is paying off and he is feeling better about himself for sticking with it.  He just wanted to share that with me.  I am so grateful that I got up this morning to listen. 

Then my youngest son came up, gave me a hug and told me that he loves me.  We talked a little bit about his plans for the day, which include being gone from 8am this morning til late in the evening tonight.  He has a good attitude about it and said, "At least it's Thursday and I don't have class tomorrow so I can sleep in!"  There was a time in his life when he would not have been able to see the brighter side of the situation, how grateful I am that I was there to hear such positive words come out of his mouth! What a great example for me this morning.  That was blessing number two. 

With a little brighter outlook I started in on my scripture study.  I needed to decide if I was finished with the Book of Numbers and was ready to move on or was there more I needed to learn.  In light of my feelings of being overwhelmed I decided to take another look at Numbers chapter 11.  In this chapter we see Moses feeling a bit overwhelmed himself and sharing his feelings with the Lord.  I like this story because Moses does not hold back how he is feeling, but says it like he is seeing it:

verse 11 - Basically he is saying:  What did I do wrong to have such heavy burdens placed on me and not get the help I need from you (God)?

verse 12 - Are these my children to worry about? No they are Yours.  So why is all the responsibility for these people on my shoulders?

verse 13 - They all come crying to me instead of You!

verse 14 - I cannot do this alone, these burdens are too much!

verse 15 - If this is the way You want it to be, then just kill me now!  If You love me this would be a kindness to me.  My own weaknesses are too overwhelming.

Can you feel Moses' frustration?  I can.  As I have gotten older, and more responsibilities have been added to my plate, I have had these same thoughts run through my head. Discouragement takes over and I allow the problems I face to become bigger than my faith in God.  But then comes the greatness of God.

The Lord responds with kindness and help for Moses (Num 11:16-17, 24-29).  He helps Moses see that the answer is right there in front of him, all he needs to do is open his eyes.  The Lord asks Moses to choose 70 men to assist him, then He gives these men the authority to function in their callings.  This is a great lesson, everything we need to succeed is already in our lives, we just have to open our eyes and see it.  And when we can't see it, we need to turn to the Lord in our moment of crisis.

There is a saying that goes: "When you've reached the end of your rope, you should just tie a knot in it and hang on."  I think a far better piece of advice is for us to let go of the rope altogether and rest in the arms of a God who is able to hold us while He solves the problems in our life.