I sat there, looking at my multiple computer screens, feeling like I wanted to curl up on the couch with a blanket. There was just too much to do, and I could see no way to possibly get it all done. And to be completely honest, I wasn’t even sure where to begin. It made me want to run and hide!
The thing is, I’ve been there before. Life just doesn’t always cooperate by sending us a nice, steady flow of things to do, challenges to face, and problems to solve. Sometimes things are going along almost effortlessly. Other times, it’s like a logjam of issues, making it hard to even determine what to do first.
I’m sure you’ve been there, and our teens will be there too (if they haven’t been there already).
At times like that, it’s tempting to tell our teens, “God doesn’t give us more than we can handle.” Have you used that one before? If so, please stop. God isn’t doing these things to us, doling out problems and challenges. Life does that. Other people do that. The decisions and choices we make do that. Think of what we face in life as being a result of humans having free will, not as some story that God has plotted out for us.
The simple fact is that many people will face more than they can handle. It’s probably safe to say that, at some point in our lives, most of us will face more than we can handle. Or, to put it more accurately, we’ll face more than we can handle alone.
We need to show our teens that one of the wonderful things about being a Christian and surrounding ourselves with loving, supportive people, is that we don’t have to face everything alone! We have others to lean on – just as they can lean on us when they need to. And the Holy Spirit is among us too. With the help of others and the strength of God’s grace, we can get through those times when we feel overwhelmed. It might not be easy, and the results might not be exactly what we’d like, but we can do it. We can face those times of overwhelm and keep going.
So, what did I do? I stopped staring at my computer screens and started contacting people. Can you take care of this for me? Do you know who I can talk to about that? Can we move the deadline on this other thing? Does this really need to be done?
I stopped occasionally to breathe, clear my head, and pray a little bit. Then I kept working my way through everything. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t perfect. And not everything got done on time. But with the help of others and some strength and calmness from the Spirit, I made it through the overwhelm.
If I can do it, then you can do it, and our teens can learn to do it too!
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