When My Heart Is Overwhelmed
When I was just a young girl, we had a women’s trio come to our church. One of the songs they sang was a simple melody tied to Psalm 61 and it started, “When my heart is overwhelmed…” I find on days like today, the tune bubbles up to remind me of where my true help comes from.
Do you ever feel like you need a “To Do List” to organize your “To Do List”?
That’s where I’m at right now.
My day job is as an elementary principal and school starts up in two weeks. Despite lots of summertime planning with our team there are still last minute odds and ends that we need to complete before students return.
Then September arrives and I really “hit the ground running”. There are four large events on my calendar in September, all back to back weekends. They are happy and joyous events. Some I’m helping plan, some I’m just attending. Yet, there is a ‘busy-ness’ to it all. The planning stages involve time and energy. Each day that time and energy seems to be depleting faster and faster, like riding a bicycle down hill and forgetting to brake, but continuing with pedaling.
When you add to it the unexpected day-to-day stressors, the feeling of overload becomes almost palpable. For me, every little thing makes me feel on edge. Simple problem solving all of a sudden feels like trying to figure out quantum physics. I begin to misinterpret people’s conversations and assume the worst. Things that would typically be “no big deal” instantly become “a big deal”!
Unkind words roll off my tongue way too easily.
Tears flow way too freely.
I shut down way too quickly.
My heart races, my stomach feels like it’s in knots, my head hurts. Every choice, decision, action seems insurmountable!
So what do we do to make things bearable?
We can try to self-medicate (for me it’s junk food!) but that is short term and doesn’t solve any problems. A nap is always a strong option~ unless it's used as a form of escape and not as a time of true rest. A friend or spouse with a great sense of humor always helps a little. Listening to music to “pump us up” or getting some exercise to get our blood pumping and those feel good endorphins running freely again.
Yet, I love the option that the Psalmist gives us the best.
“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:1-2 (KJV)
Written by King David, it points as a reminder to bring me back to the source of true strength~ the Lord God alone.
Imagine the daily life of a King. Talk about overwhelming! Yet, he stopped to cry out to his God. It wasn’t a little “God, I’m reaching out today because I’m sensing a lot on my plate.” He cried out. The Hebrew word is qara (kah-RAH) and it is a word that is used when someone is in distress or time of trouble.
For me, that crying out takes different forms. Sometimes it’s with tears crying, “God, I just can’t do this anymore. Take over.” There are days it’s angry, “God, this is just too much!” (just being real…He knows my heart already!) Sometimes it’s uttered in the chaos of a moment…
Feeling overwhelmed makes us feel shaky and unable to make stable decisions. It’s hard to complete tasks. Yet, when we think of Christ Jesus as the rock that is higher than ourselves we can know that we rest in His grounding.
Friend, are you feeling the same as me today? If so cry out-qara- to the Rock that is our only sure footing. He will never fail you!
