I’m not what you might call a “details person” — Pinterest is so far out of my league and I’m horrible at executing the latest chore schedule, workout routine, or Bible reading plan. In the back-to-school rush, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There’re new schedules, school supplies to purchase, sports starting up, and especially in the beginning of a school year, the promise of growth, change, and possibility. Even more than in January, the start of the school year promises new beginnings for all of us. Combine all that change in the details with all that internal change, and you have a recipe for overwhelm.
What do we do when all that newness feels overwhelming?
Details are important, but it’s easy to quickly get lost in the details and forget how we flourish best. When we’re stressed about change, we start controlling our environment. (I change tasks and go into cleaning mode!) We snap at our families over minor problems, we don’t eat well or exercise, and most of all, we forget that God holds the cosmos in his hands.
Before figuring out the details for your fall schedule (and maybe going into cleaning mode because you feel out of control) let’s get to the heart of the problem: how does our overwhelm point us to our need for God?
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We fight overwhelm by simultaneously resting in God's transcendence and immanence.
Instead of reacting to the shifting circumstances or emotional temperature of ourselves or others in our lives, as Christians, we ground ourselves in the goodness of God.
It’s important that we recognize his transcendence — that ultimately, God is not like us. God is not dependent on the new schedules or yearly goals or anything that he has created. He is above all things and the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. Jesus is the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). He spoke the universe into existence; he stretches the heavens out like a curtain (Isaiah 40:22), he will not be shaken.
As we meditate on verses such as these, our eyes are brought to worship. All it takes, sometimes, is a view of the ocean or mountains, a peek at the night sky, or even the details in the veined leaf outside of your house to draw our attention off of ourselves and onto a God who created it all. Who is like our God? When we see our small place in the course of human history and in space, we fight overwhelm knowing that we don’t need to control our circumstances. God is in control and we can meditate on his goodness and glory.
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God Is Immanent
God isn't far-off, a powerful, impersonal deity. God is immanent: he has come near to his creation. Of course, we see this most fully in Jesus, who left the riches of heaven to become one of his creation, fully God and fully man, to redeem the world and bring people to himself. Because God isn’t only transcendent, but because he’s immanent, it means that he cares tenderly for his creation; he sees us as sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). We need tending, guiding, and we need the intimate presence of God.
That means that when we’re overwhelmed, we have a God who not only can do something about our heart and our circumstances because he’s transcendent, but who cares for us too, because he has entered into our overwhelm.
But, how do we take big words like transcendence and immanence and have them mean something in our everyday lives?
In short, what are the habits or practices that can guide us from overwhelm into worship? And how do I do this in my ordinary life: when I’m circling the suburbs in my minivan, reading and writing, volunteering, washing dishes, or at church?
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1. Start Small.
From calendar or schedule shifts and growing to-do lists to big changes — like trying to create habits to connect you with God — we have to start small.
When we decide that everything needs an overhaul, the bedrooms cleaned out, the work schedule reconfigured, we either micromanage all the details or succumb to overwhelm. Instead, start small. Pick one thing you can do today. Where do you want to grow this season?
Find a time and place for the changes you want to make and start small. If you’re hoping to finally read your Bible daily this fall, then read a verse or a chapter before your feet hit the floor of your bedroom. If you’re wanting to make church activities a priority, start now by clearing the schedule and choosing to eat leftovers on the night you’ll be out for small group to make it easy. Take away barriers so you can do one small thing: show up for the change.
Do one small thing. Then, keep doing that thing day after day. Pretty soon, it’ll be a part of the routine.
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2. Stay Put.
Sometimes, busyness is just an excuse for us to descend into overwhelm. We stay busy because we like to feel needed or special. Yet, we have the option to always say no to the endless activities or responsibilities that vie for our attention. So, step back from all that needs doing and ask yourself: Where is God leading me? What might he have for me this season? Where is he challenging me to step out? Expect for God to show you.
When we say yes to every opportunity and go into autopilot by filling up our schedules, we don’t leave margins in our time or emotions for God to surprise us.
So, stay put. Commit to your neighborhood and neighbors. Commit to the larger goals you have for you, your family, and church. Resist the urge to always try the newer thing and instead, dig down deep roots into the place God has already called you.
As you pray, pray for guidance about this next season, for eyes to see the needs right under your nose. When you’ve carved out some time and set your sights on where you are right now, you’ll see God show you your next right step.
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3. Get Moving.
There’s nothing like a walk to help me clear my head. As my body loosens and my arms are swinging, all the stalled thoughts somehow coalesce. Moving your body physically — even just taking a post-dinner family walk regularly — helps make connections between our brain cells and gets the blood flowing. When we walk, we not only improve our physical health and relationships, as well as improve our ideas, but we also notice our place.
If you’re hoping to get out from under the burden of overwhelm, you have to get out of your head. You have to get moving. Take someone with you, talk through your feelings and frustrations. Begin to see the world outside of yourself — from the neighbor who needs help, to the glory of a beautiful flower, to ways you can get on the ground and do your ordinary life with great love.
Once you’ve started moving, you’ll also be encouraged to keep moving on more than just walks. You’ll be encouraged to keep going — to “get going” in the larger sense to create small, daily habits of change not just for you and your schedule, but for the good of your place, too.
Ashley Hales holds a PhD in English from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She’s a writer, speaker, the wife to a church planter in the southern California suburbs and mother to 4. Her writing has been featured in such places as The Gospel Coalition, Books & Culture, and Christianity Today. Her first book is Finding Holy in the Suburbs: Living Faithfully in the Land of Too Much (IVP). Connect with Ashley at aahales.com or on social media at @aahales.Photo Courtesy: Unsplash
Originally published Friday, 24 August 2018.
