Overwhelmed

Confession time again. I feel like I am always confessing to you guys, but I figure if my struggles are going to help other people... why not?  God puts things on my heart for a reason, and I know that God has called me to be an encourager so.. since I have no idea who he wants me to encourage, I will just write about it here.

Lately, I have been feeling rather overwhelmed.  Over the past month, I have dealt with one thing after another. Some of these things may not seem like a huge deal, but when you have four or five of these things piled on top of you at once, it feels like a crushing weight on your shoulders.  For the past several weeks, I have felt like I've had the weight of the world on my shoulders.  I've been feeling very “off” for lack of a better word.  I haven't felt energized... at ALL.  I have been feeling rather down in the dumps, stressed out.. haven't been sleeping the greatest... you get the point.  I've tried and tried and tried to not be so stressed out.  I've prayed about it over and over, but... nothing changed.  That is until last night.  Last night I finally just cried out to God.  I was writing how I felt in my prayer journal and I finally realized.. like REALLY realized that I can't do it alone. I can't handle all this weight on my own.  So I started giving it to God and laying this burden on His shoulders.  I found myself going through highlighted verses on my Bible app.  The following verses are what I was drawn to:

Matthew 11:28-30 “Then Jesus said, 'Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.'” (NLT)

Psalms 55:22 “Give your burdens to the lord, and he will take care of you.  He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” (NLT)

All of Psalm 91 too.

Ya know.. God doesn't expect us to go through struggles on our own. In fact, He doesn't WANT us to.  The Bible tell us over and over again to give our burdens to Him.  The above references are only a few.  As I read these verses, I felt a peace wash over me.  I laid my head down on my pillow, and I think I actually felt the hand of God on my shoulder helping me relax.  Our Heavenly Father does not want us to be stressed out or down in the dumps.  He doesn't want us to try to do this thing called life on our own.  He wants us to reach out for Him and cling to Him as our lifeline.  My favorite verse came to my mind again over the last 24 hours.  Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me WITH ALL YOUR HEART.”  That is the key right there.  God is not really interested in half-hearted seeking.  He is waiting for you to seek Him with your whole heart.  He is waiting for you to come to the end of yourself where you are finally ready to give it completely to Him.  It's hard to do because we, as humans, like to control as much as we can, but when we finally realize there's nothing we can do about it... then we are ready to give it to Him and watch Him work miracles.

I want you to know that if you are struggling with feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone.  I also want you to know that our Heavenly Father does not want you to go through this on your own.  Cry out to Him with all your heart, and He will meet you.

Father, I pray for those that are reading this and are overwhelmed right now... whether it's financial burdens, emotional, spiritual, physical.. whatever it is Father, I pray that you will meet them in their weakness and be their strength.  Lift them up when they can no longer stand on their own two feet.  Give them peace where they are currently feeling turmoil.  Heal their broken spirits and restore them.  I have seen you work miracles before my very eyes, and I know that anything is possible with You.  You have raised people back to life, restored broken marriages, done things that have been deemed impossible.  Lord, I pray that you would show up in a mighty way and work miracles in the lives of those reading this right now.  Show them Your awesome power.  These things I pray, in Jesus' Name, AMEN.
If you want to hear a great song that I absolutely love, check out the song Overwhelmed by Big Daddy Weave. Also their song Redeemed is great too.  These songs remind me of just how amazing God is, and how much he loves us.