Life can be overwhelming.

A difficult situation may hit us head-on suddenly, or perhaps we saw it coming and failed to take precautions.

We may not realize the stress building up in us, until the day that last straw person pops the top, and we explode like a shaken can of coke; usually in the middle of the frozen food aisle.

What causes us to feel overwhelmed?

We can become overwhelmed by every-day life routines such as housework, parenting, careers, and marriage.

Conceivably, we manufacture a considerable amount of our own overwhelming circumstances through, lack of sleep, unwise choices, overcommitment, time management issues. A clue for that last one is steering the car with your knee while applying deodorant.

However, there exists overwhelming circumstances which are more difficult than others to overcome: grief, health-related issues, abuse, sick children, divorce, financial crisis, caring for aging parents…

I Googled the phrase “I feel overwhelmed” and a resounding 33,600,000 hits were available at my fingertips in a matter of seconds. By the time we’re Googling for answers, we may already be beyond the point of melt-down.

Although we cannot prevent difficult seasons in life, we can we minimize the impact and remain steadfast in faith before life gets hard.

Here are a few suggestions:

• At the start of your day, pray
• Read the Word before the Wall Street Journal, local newspaper, or social media
• Get plenty of rest and practice healthy eating habits
• Meet regularly with an accountability partner who knows you well; choose one who will call you out when you’re wrong, and can sense when you’re stressed
• Be courageous in severing ties to toxic relationships
• Evaluate your current commitments; is your schedule too full? Even ministry can become overwhelming if we are running in too many directions at once.
• Manage time wisely by prioritizing tasks. For example, getting dressed is a non-negotiable;dressing before performing negotiable tasks, such as checking Facebook, may afford you extra morning minutes.

God has not overlooked the fact our fleshy hearts can feel overwhelmed. We know this because He has provided an answer. He is the answer.

See you at the Rock ~

Doris