Have you ever felt like you cannot win? I’m talking about that feeling you get when you’ve tried and struggled and worked your way through a day, and everything falls apart. Me too. So many of us are living in the middle of OVERWHELM. But here is what I would encourage you to do. If you want to escape overwhelm, here is how to do it. It worked for me, and I am confident that it will work for you.
1. Stop whatever you are doing and make a mental note of what you are grateful for right now. I know it sounds so simple, but I’ve learned how powerful the emotion and expression of gratitude can be. It will reset your soul like no other experience. Gratitude isn’t just for contemplative people. Gratitude is for every human on the planet. When you are overwhelmed, lean into gratitude. Take note of two things you are grateful for. It will reset your soul on a trajectory of peace and contentment.
2. Help someone. It’s not about how much you help or what exactly you do. Jesus said that people that aspire to great must learn to serve others. If you feel like there is nothing that’s going right in your life, do something to help someone else, and I’ll promise that your attitude and your heart will turn around and reset your day. It’s like magic. Serve others and watch how it changes your perspective and reality. Acts 30:35 makes this point clear, “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, when He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
3. Stop in your tracks and ask the Divine for Wisdom. We are a people that are overwhelmed with knowledge. I recently read that in 2020, all known knowledge is doubling every twelve hours. In 1982, inventor R. Buckminster Fuller estimated that up until 1900, human knowledge doubled every century, but by 1945 it was doubling every 25 years. And by 1982, it was doubling every 12-13 months. This may sound a little quaint since experts now believe that by 2020, human knowledge doubles every 12 hours. But the real question is, “How is it making us smarter?” We have more information and more knowledge than any generation in creation’s history. So, where is the wisdom that is needed to overcome our overwhelm? It’s right here in an ancient book, proven accurate a million times and then a million more. The Bible teaches us in the book of James, chapter 1 that “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Did you read that? Ask for wisdom and you are promised to be given wisdom.
Most of this world is overwhelmed right now. You do not have to stay that way. Stop and be Grateful. Slow down long enough to serve someone. Discover enough humility to ask for help by asking the Creator, and Sustainer of the universe for WISDOM.
That is the key to OVERCOMING OVERWHELM.
—Chuck