Have you ever had one of those tremendously draining weeks where there have been super emotional highs and then really low lows?
That’s been my week.
In fact that’s been my month.
I have been jumping from project to project on the blog and in my home since the start of the year and I am feeling exhausted and unbalanced.
Even the greatest achievements are wearing me out.
I have really trusted God for some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G things this year and He’s done nothing but deliver yet I find myself in a place where I’m overwhelmed with it all and just need to take a breather.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s the very example Jesus leaves for us throughout the New Testament Bible.
After the miracles in Capernaum and Galilee:
- And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. (Read in context —> Mark 1:14-35)
After the miraculous feeding of 5,000:
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And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. (Red in context —> Matthew 14:14-23)
Before making a major decision:
- And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles. (Read in context —> Luke 6:12-16)
After ministering to the needs of others:
- And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. (Read in context —> Mark 6:20-37)
I know I’m not the only one who gets to point where they’re overwhelmed and feeling unbalanced with their calling. So for those of you in a position where you are constantly pouring yourself out for the glory of the Lord, please know that it’s okay to rest.
If it was good enough practice for Jesus, then it should be good enough for us. By redirecting our entire focus toward the Lord, we allow Him to recalibrate our lives and give us the perfect balance.
5 Ways to Find Balance
1. Pray – Block out time to pray daily. This is different from your time praying as you go about your normal day. Intentional time in conversation with God allows you to release all issues to the only one who can truly do anything about them. Talking to and listening to God either by thinking on His word or allowing His spirit to speak to your heart should be bring peace and direction. This step is important because it gives God permission to organize your life one day and one moment at a time.
2. Meditate – Spend time thinking about or writing scripture related to resting, order, peace and balance. Keep a journal of the verses so that you are able to easily find them. Time spent reflecting on Gods promises brings rest and a peace to your soul.
3. Limit Your Availability – Block out times for you and your family when you cannot be reached. Despite what our culture says, it is not rude, it is necessary. Also, block out time alone for just you and the Lord.
4. Be Purposeful With Your Time – Understanding that your time is really God’s times will help you be purposeful with it. Pray about everything you are asked to do before you say “yes”. Make sure that it lines up with God’s plan for you.
5. Rest – Plan days of NOTHING! This step goes hand in hand with numbers 1-4. It’s alright to NOT BE DOING SOMETHING ALL OF THE TIME. Time resting means time with the Lord and also getting enough sleep. The fastest way to become unbalanced is from lack of sleep. It’s okay to take a nap or go to bed early. Schedule rest time just as you’d schedule any other activity.
If anyone besides me woke up this morning feeling unbalanced and overwhelmed please know that God doesn’t want us to be in that position. He knows all about the busyness virus that Satan tries to infect us with which is why He’s supplied a remedy for us when we find ourselves there.
If you have a been struggling this morning, this week or this month leave your prayer request below. I want to pray for you.
I’ve been struggling with balancing a newborn and one less than 2 both are basically a new family as my other children are 18 and older from a previous marriage, I feel like all my husband and I do is argue and that he doesn’t want to address issues but ignore them hoping they will go away and trying to decide if going back to watching after the baby isn’t a good idea. We work separate shifts which is great for child care but now that he’s working every other weekend I’m not seeing this being good for our family but it’s such a hard decision to give up a job I love that I know may never be there for me again. I’ve been praying but I feel like our arguing is pushing me to work and have time apart but I can’t imagine God wanting a mother to work if it’s interfering with a family. My time to decide is right around the corner and I feel like I’m not getting an answer from God what is right and if He will protect us financially. Please pray that I will hear God and that our relationship will mend.
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A Proverbs Wife Reply:
March 9th, 2015 at
@Nicole, Working opposite shifts is often touch on a marriage, but when you add in 2 young kids it can be a bad combination. From reading your comment it sounds like you know what you should do, but are having a hard time coming to terms with it. A job will always be there. You have to figure out what’s important and best for your family right now.
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Please pray for me, I am just overwhelmed with life. I am printing this and posting both at home and at work and will read daily. I have been saying that I need to stop and regroup. This posting is right on time.
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The Proverbs Wife Reply:
March 13th, 2014 at
@Lee, I am praying for you friend. How’s things been going lately?
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Please pray for our family. Our 16 year old son blatently smokes pot. He refuses to stop, and we are having to do some tough things as parents. He is breaking our hearts and we fear for the damage that the pot is doing to him.
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The Proverbs Wife Reply:
January 21st, 2014 at
@Portia, I’m praying with you. My oldest daughter went through a season in her teens when she became rebellious and we had to do some hard things as parents. There is no easy answer….but I will encourage you to lean on God.
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I am in desparate need of a job. God has closed many doors, and one keeps cracking open, but no offer yet.
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Prayers for a job.
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Ok. By the world’s standards this will sound impossible. 1.5 years ago my husband of 12 years left and divorced me to stop our bad behaviors. We both came from bad marriages and married each other quickly. Throughout 12 years we each became people that we did not recognize. Neither of us came from abusive or broken homes. However we both came from critical, perfectionist homes. We are both performance based, high energy, broken hearted people who took the gloves off and let each other have it for all the wrongs that everyone else did. So, he divorced me. Bought a house. Lives 2 miles away. Has not pursued any other relationship except with God, male friends and me. He seems to be struggling with balancing individuality and marriage. Says he wants us to take it slow,get healthy and get back together one day. Until then, he wants us to remain a couple. I struggle with the broken covenant and his choice to live separate. In my head, i know our home was unhealthy and neither of us has recovered from the hurt caused. However, my heart is hurt that he continues to take this slow pace of reconciling. My head knows he has to reconcile with God first. My heart just wants him reconciled with me. My head knows I need to rely on my heavenly husband for all my needs. My heart wants my earthly husband to think i am that special. We are both co-dependent in nature. I address my issues at Celebrate Recovery. Pls pray for changed hearts, healing and renewal in each of us individually. Pls pray for our individual reconciliation w God as well as each other. I believe in marriage. I believe our world gives up to easily. And right now, i can understand why.
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The Proverbs Wife Reply:
September 29th, 2013 at
@Stacy, it sounds like you guys are on a great path to recovery even thought I know it hurts. From what you’ve written neither of you have given up on the marriage. I am praying for God to work in you both as individuals and as a couple to bring you to where you need to be in order to have a healthy marriage.
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I love that you presented this so calmly and matter of fact yet with such compassion and that you want to pray for us. I am struggling with much and considering counseling. Nothing major just too much life bumps at a hormonal time of life.
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i am trying as hard as i can to fix my finances and become a woman who lives with jesus in her heart not live by materials i have been praying everyday i beleive he is life and nothing else matters i ask jesus please help me
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Relationship between my children and I.
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5 kids here. Oldest is 12, then 9, 6, 2 and 5 months. The 2 ye old has complex medical needs. My husband works out of state for weeks on end and I grow so tired. Baby boy has started up waking in the middle of the nights and I’ve got to be up by 7:35 in the mornings for my two year old. I had a very successful hair accessories business that I took hiatus from due to a rough post partum recovery and an enlarged right heart. The Lord delivered me from health problems and I’ve started back but it hasn’t thrived which hurts my added income. I also started a non profit and we have delivered care packages (3-4perfamily) twenty times at a local children’s hospital. We have a big event coming up for dinner and dancing and auction and.I have yet to sell any of 250 tickets. The Lord helped again in having the local paper come and do a story on our girl and the charity. We hope to spread the love of Christ to these families by listening and providing for tangible needs. With Hubby out of town its been difficult to find time to fundraise which means less families provided for and that troubles me too.
I have heavy weight on my shoulders and definitely feel out of sorts and like I don’t have enough time for everyone. Definitely need prayers. I’ve done several packages of headbands for children battling cancer and so forth and want to continue to use the talents He has given me for that too.
Lengthy post but its good to release.
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I posted on facebook that I’ve been feeling overwhelmed with life. Especially today, don’t know why but I can’t seem to get a grip on things…My housework, inter-peace, my children, husband. Everything seems to be going wrong so it seems. Just struggling with some minor decisions, I’ve got going on. This is a good read and I will start to apply these principals in my life starting tonight. Thank-you for praying for me.
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Unbalance
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I have been struggling all day to keep it together. I have been counting the seconds till bedtime since breakfast.
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I really needed to hear/read this. Please pray for me.
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Yes, I agree. Things get busy. I have four children also and have a lot on my plate. I enjoy your blog and refreshing posts. Blessings to you.
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Thank you for the verses and inspiration as they are very timely. May God continue to use you to inspire those of us who wish to walk with God.
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My daughter is six months old and this is exactly what I am struggling with. Just trying to figure out how to work with the time I have with a new 24/7 responsibility. And the lack of sleep is really what’s making everything else worse, but there’s nothing more I can do about that…
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Excellent advice. Thank you for posting this.
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Finding balance has been a struggle! This article was right on time. I’m going to make some time for me starting today.
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This is right on time … I’ve been working on getting my schedule in check during the weekend so I can be free for my loved ones on Saturday and to rest on Sundays …this is my first weekend and it has already made such an impact! Thank you again!
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Saidah, this was great breakdown. I think we as women especially don’t value time to ourselves as much as we should. I’m so guilty of this. Just today, I felt overwhelmed since Saturday is usually the day I sleep in and have the husband take care of the kids in the morning. He’s working over time all weekend and I immediately felt stressed over it. I’m promising myself time out of the house when he returns, to go window shopping or to just sit in the car, alone, and catch up with my thoughts and the Lord. So important!
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This is such a great article and so necessary all the time. This week I spent time telling one of my accountability groups that they need to set aside weekends for family since they are starting new families and need to establish good habits now. I am going to share your article with them.
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This is just what I needed to read on this morning. February is always a struggle for me for personal reasons surrounding the loss of my sister. Package that with becoming a blogger and all of these things here to keep my mind off of it, and I’ve overextended myself instead of just putting it in the hands of the Lord in the first place. Thank you for sharing!
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The Proverbs Wife Reply:
February 22nd, 2013 at
@Natasha @ Houseful Of Nicholes,
Congrats on starting a blog. That plus a family, plus everything else can get overwhelming when we take the reins. It’s so good to know that we can turn them back over to God.
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