Four Ways to Fight Feeling Overwhelmed

When I read Joshua a few weeks ago, I tried to put myself in his shoes. It made me feel immediately a little excited, nervous and a bit overwhelmed. How was he to walk in Moses' shoes? One of the greatest leaders and his mentor had passed. Now instead of his fearless leader guiding them to the promised land, he was tasked to do it.

While most of us aren’t leaders of a nation, each of us is tasked with leading a life worthy of the calling of Christ (Ephesians 4:1).  Whether we parent, teach, or any number of roles, we all have responsibilities God calls us to carry out. And, just like Joshua, we all have role models who we look up to and who have guided us.

I saw four ways this Scripture teaches us how to fight that feeling of "overwhelm." So when we begin new seasons we feel unprepared for or step into roles we feel under-qualified for, let's use these tools!

1. Re-affirming our identity in Christ - The biggest thing I think of is the importance of recognizing Whose we are. When our identity is tied to Christ, we see the power behind the Lord’s words to Joshua “so I will be with you.” We need to remember that while we look at tasks, roles or responsibilities as mountain size, the Lord far outsizes them! And in His magnitude and love for us, He is able to attend to and care for our needs.

2. Learning from others' walks of faith - Reading and studying Scripture has immense value because it reminds us of Who God has been in other people's lives. He has been, and will always be because he is unchanging: faithful provider, rescuer, redeemer and many other things. When we see God's relationship with others, it reminds us of who God is to us. This can give us hope for any current struggle we find ourselves in.

3. Relying on God promises not to forsake us -The opposite of forsake is keep, own or posses. In times when we struggle or feel overwhelmed, it can be easy to feel like we’ve been abandoned. But friends, God has promised to keep us, care for us and love us. I like how Warren Weirsbe put it: “Somehow we have the idea that when life is easy, God is pleased with us, but when life is hard we think God has forsaken us. And just the opposite might be true. Too often when life is easy we might forget God and start to depend on our own wisdom and strength. It is when the going is hard that we really know how close God is to His children who need Him.

4. Trusting God promise not to leave us - When our role models or mentors either leave or can’t help us in a particular situation, we can feel lost. But let’s remember this: God never leaves us. His character trait of immanence means He is always present with us. We’re never alone. We can always call on His name for guidance in seasons where we're overwhelmed (and any other number of struggles). It is helpful to draw on the truth of Scripture when this happens.

So friends, we hope these truths encourage your hearts today as they encouraged ours! Let’s let the reality of Who God is permeate our hearts and minds this week as we memorize this verse together.