Tuesday, February 10, 2015
What do you do when you cannot take it anymore?
If it has not happened to you yet, it will. Maybe it happened to you in the past and you pray it never gets to that point again. If you look closely in your community of faith, I can almost guarantee it is happening to one or more families right now. Certainly, there are any number of individuals that you know going thru it right now.
It is that overwhelming, "I can't take anymore", "what else can go wrong", "I just want to quit, or cry, or scream" season of life.
You know what it looks like.
Sickness. One kid gets over it just in time to see the next one throw up. You do need surgery. The test results are not good. You are not getting out of the hospital today. Your Mom needs surgery. Your Dad fell again. You can't afford another sick day.
Finances. Your hours got cut back. Your position is being eliminated. Your kid needs braces. The car won't start. The washer is out. The claim got denied. The roof leaks.
A fallen world full of sin. Someone cheated you out of a sale. Another one lied about you. A bully is picking on one of your kids. Or on you.
Or you did it again. You watched a movie you should not have. Or visited a site that should be off limits. Or drank too much again. Or snapped at your kids. Ignored your mate. Skipped church.
You can't feel the joy of your salvation. Abundant life seems a cruel joke. God may be there but you cannot see him or feel him. Everybody at church has it together except you. Or they are all a bunch of hypocrites. Or...
So what do you do when Satan is dog-piling you and yours?
Been there. My family is there. Right now. Ours right now are family health issues. And people who need a lot of shepherding right now. And we are getting stretched a little thin.
So here is what I do. What Marsha and I do. Maybe it will help you.
Cling to God because I believe he is there whether I feel it or not. I may have questions, be mad, even pout at Him. But I believe. If God will not see me thru, where in the world is any hope?
Listen to stories of those who made it thru dark times. Scripture has lots of those: Job, Noah, Moses, Paul, Peter. David. The list goes on and on. And we are not the first in our church to be overwhelmed. That is why it is so important to tell our stories. Our old people have lived thru hard times and made it thru. They are an example and inspiration to me to remember that I can too.
Cling more tightly to family and friends that matter. I hold Marsha tighter. Watch parents more closely. Touch base with the kids more. Connect with the grandkids. Its' remembering what matters. God, Jesus, family. And if family relationships are part of what is overwhelming you then be proactive to heal them. Pray, serve, love the people that matter. Because you need them. I can't imagine how we would make it without each other. Parents, wife, kids, grands. We get thru it by hanging on to each other.
Connect with your real friends. Have coffee or lunch. Go out with another couple. Someone that cares. Make a phone call. They may not do anything but listen. But I learned that sometimes it's just being with someone that cares. Brothers that love me.
Take help. I know that there are people that can exhaust you with their neediness. We don't want to be like that, or be a bother. We are givers not takers. I get all that. Trust me, I am preaching to the choir here. Because I really have to work at sharing. I am great at taking your burdens and helping. Not so great at sharing mine. Neither is Marsha. We are open, warm, caring, and the people you want when you need to vent, cry, dump, or vomit up your trouble. And we are closed, careful, and non-sharing about ours. At least in ways that matter. I'll preach about everything publicly... and share almost nothing privately. But i do know how much it helps to even hear someone make the offer to help.
Know that this too shall pass. People really do get well eventually. Or they get to go home to God. Somehow critical needs get met. Unexpected check or gift or help. You do get around go again. You can live forgiven. Lives change. Yours and others. Really. Relationships get healed. You survive another day. And another. And another.
We have survived a lot of hard times in our family. And in our church family. God has always seen us thru. Always. Not always like we thought we wanted, but always. Always he has been faithful.
So those are some of the ways we survive. In the past, right now, and when it comes again in the future. And trust me, it will.
So thanks for listening and maybe this will help you survive when you are overwhelmed by life.
Help us all God. Like you always have. And like you always will.
It is that overwhelming, "I can't take anymore", "what else can go wrong", "I just want to quit, or cry, or scream" season of life.
You know what it looks like.
Sickness. One kid gets over it just in time to see the next one throw up. You do need surgery. The test results are not good. You are not getting out of the hospital today. Your Mom needs surgery. Your Dad fell again. You can't afford another sick day.
Finances. Your hours got cut back. Your position is being eliminated. Your kid needs braces. The car won't start. The washer is out. The claim got denied. The roof leaks.
A fallen world full of sin. Someone cheated you out of a sale. Another one lied about you. A bully is picking on one of your kids. Or on you.
Or you did it again. You watched a movie you should not have. Or visited a site that should be off limits. Or drank too much again. Or snapped at your kids. Ignored your mate. Skipped church.
You can't feel the joy of your salvation. Abundant life seems a cruel joke. God may be there but you cannot see him or feel him. Everybody at church has it together except you. Or they are all a bunch of hypocrites. Or...
So what do you do when Satan is dog-piling you and yours?
Been there. My family is there. Right now. Ours right now are family health issues. And people who need a lot of shepherding right now. And we are getting stretched a little thin.
So here is what I do. What Marsha and I do. Maybe it will help you.
Cling to God because I believe he is there whether I feel it or not. I may have questions, be mad, even pout at Him. But I believe. If God will not see me thru, where in the world is any hope?
Listen to stories of those who made it thru dark times. Scripture has lots of those: Job, Noah, Moses, Paul, Peter. David. The list goes on and on. And we are not the first in our church to be overwhelmed. That is why it is so important to tell our stories. Our old people have lived thru hard times and made it thru. They are an example and inspiration to me to remember that I can too.
Cling more tightly to family and friends that matter. I hold Marsha tighter. Watch parents more closely. Touch base with the kids more. Connect with the grandkids. Its' remembering what matters. God, Jesus, family. And if family relationships are part of what is overwhelming you then be proactive to heal them. Pray, serve, love the people that matter. Because you need them. I can't imagine how we would make it without each other. Parents, wife, kids, grands. We get thru it by hanging on to each other.
Connect with your real friends. Have coffee or lunch. Go out with another couple. Someone that cares. Make a phone call. They may not do anything but listen. But I learned that sometimes it's just being with someone that cares. Brothers that love me.
Take help. I know that there are people that can exhaust you with their neediness. We don't want to be like that, or be a bother. We are givers not takers. I get all that. Trust me, I am preaching to the choir here. Because I really have to work at sharing. I am great at taking your burdens and helping. Not so great at sharing mine. Neither is Marsha. We are open, warm, caring, and the people you want when you need to vent, cry, dump, or vomit up your trouble. And we are closed, careful, and non-sharing about ours. At least in ways that matter. I'll preach about everything publicly... and share almost nothing privately. But i do know how much it helps to even hear someone make the offer to help.
Know that this too shall pass. People really do get well eventually. Or they get to go home to God. Somehow critical needs get met. Unexpected check or gift or help. You do get around go again. You can live forgiven. Lives change. Yours and others. Really. Relationships get healed. You survive another day. And another. And another.
We have survived a lot of hard times in our family. And in our church family. God has always seen us thru. Always. Not always like we thought we wanted, but always. Always he has been faithful.
So those are some of the ways we survive. In the past, right now, and when it comes again in the future. And trust me, it will.
So thanks for listening and maybe this will help you survive when you are overwhelmed by life.
Help us all God. Like you always have. And like you always will.
