Just keep walking
Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Do you ever feel like you just can't handle one more thing going wrong or one more person needing you?
First can I say - you are not alone and then can I say it again? You are not alone.
We all feel that way right? A single college student with no job, no debt and no responsibilities feels this way, a single mom kids and a job... she also feels this way. That housewife who has it all together? Who seems to always have clean coordinating clothes? She feels this way too! We all feel overwhelmed because we were never intended to try to fight our battles alone.
I have been reading in 2 chronicles lately - here are some amazing things God did for Jehoshaphat, and that same God... He is still working today and can fight your battles too.
I felt overwhelmed yesterday, well, actually for about 3 days in a row. Typically I am a person who can withstand an immense amount of stress and weight on my shoulders, but somehow this week it was just one thing after another. Can I get through one day without something breaking or learning that my children need to see a specialist for an eye disorder or sleep through the night without my little one waking up with night terrors? Just one easy day, can I get just one of those?
I apologize if you were one of the ones who heard me grumbling or complaining this week... I don't want to be a person who puts on a face and says "Oh everything is great" when you ask "How are you"? I do however want to be someone who says "Life is hard, but God is showing Himself faithful"
Yesterday it all kinda came to a head, I could feel the emotional and physical stress building up inside of me and I knew I just needed to give it to God but I had to work it out of me first... Do you ever feel that way? So, I followed Jehoshaphat's example... I walked it out and I praised God...
I took my dog on a 60 minute run... Now, I don't run, I sorta walk/jog, but I think it was the stress releasing and my thankfulness for how faithful God was all coming together into some sort of magical energy because I didn't feel tired, I didn't feel like my lungs were going to explode, I just kept running and singing... Ha, I am sorry for anyone randomly sitting on their porch last night listening to me sing because it was probably extremely out of tune.
I literally put this song on repeat and sang it while I ran. My dog is still tired this morning but I got home with such clarity and peace and trust... My job today is to walk it out, walk out life and know that God will fight my battles... He will heal my children's hearts, he will provide all we need financially, he will give me the patience and love needed to pour into the lives of my children and students, he will bring students into the studio, he will love me when I feel alone... God can do all of that, but if I try to do it alone then I am not letting Him... So today, today I will take a step of obedience, a step of faith, a step of just letting God work through me and like Jehoshaphat I believe that when I walk through the clearing and look at the field before me that my enemies will be laid to waste, that the battle will be finished and I can just collect the spoils of war and praise Him each step of the way.
"In You I rest, in You I found my hope In You I trust, You never let me go I place my life within Your hands alone Be still, my soul"