Maintaining balance, in an OVERLOADED life.

 

 

January 16, 2012

OVERLOAD (Outline from Brookwood Church, Devotion by Kylie Davis)

"I have no peace! I have no quiet! I have no rest! And trouble keeps coming!

                                Job 3:26

What do you need more of:____________________________.

I see the limits to everything human…                Psalm 119:96

Overload    =    demands exceeding resources.

Solution:        margin

Areas where I need margin:

1. EMOTIONS
   
   1. God, God, save me! I'm in over my head, quicksand under me, swamp water over me; I'm going down for the third time.     Psalm 69:1-2
      
2. PHYSICAL ENERGY
   
   1. Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am in trouble; my eyes are tired from so much crying; I am completely worn out.        Psalm 31:9
      
3. TIME
   
   1. I had no time to care for myself.        Song of Solomon 1:6
      
4. FINANCES
   
   1. He who loves money shall never have enough. The foolishness of thinking that wealth brings happiness! The more you have, the more you spend, right up to the limits of your income. So what is the advantage of wealth- except perhaps to watch it as it runs through your fingers!     Ecclesiastes 5:10
      

 

 

 

 

MARGIN is energy left over, patience, something that does not get depleted.

OVERLOAD occurs naturally, MARGIN does not.

EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION occurs when we are NOT prepared.

Stand against the culture, learn to say NO!!!

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We all become overloaded in our life, too much of this or that and not enough time for rest, quiet time, time with God. We spend all day today hoping for more hours in the day tomorrow. I often feel very overloaded with life and I make a few statements rather frequently.

 

1. I will just get sleep when I am dead (horrible I know).
   
2. I will never get all this done.
   

 

For #1 if I took the time I was given when my children go to bed at 8pm and get some sleep, being up at 6am probably wouldn't feel so bad.

 

For #2, if I focused only on things that truly mattered and let go of everything that doesn't hold a place of importance in the eyes of God, I could get all that needs to be done completed.

I am the type of person that likes to take on 100 things at one time, but then all I do is complain and nag to my husband that I cannot physically get it all done (I am sure he is exhausted by me)! I have to learn to say NO, to myself, to the world, to the TV, to Facebook, to anything that comes between what I NEED to do and what I WANT to do! I cannot spend ½ my day playing and then all night fussing about the heavy load, when I brought the added headache to own plate.

 

KEY POINT:

We all know in Corinthians 10:13, "he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." Now if God is telling you that he will only give you what you can personally handle, how then do we become overloaded? We become overloaded when WE choose to adapt to the newer things in life, when we try to keep up with the Joneses, when we have to look the best, drive the best car, and have the newest electronics. When we sign our kids up for activity after activity.

When we overload ourselves, we only have ourselves to blame. If we cannot get everything done that we need to do then some things are going to have to go. Learn to say NO to yourself about things you WANT verses things you NEED. Learn to live frugally (very guilty myself). Learn to tell your kids NO at the store no matter how big the tantrum they pitch in the middle of the floor becomes. Learn to rely on God to deliver you into things that HE prepares time for. Stop relying on yourself for your hectic schedule of your own busy life. Learn to take care of the things that truly matter in life, your personal space and time with God, your debt, your friends and family's well-being.

My husband and I are overloaded with medical debt due to my husband's heart disease and after church yesterday my husband looked at me and said, "A lot of our overload from the medical debt is really not our fault." He is exactly right it is NOT our fault, but not being prepared for the "no faults," is our fault.

A local mom I know is a high to do at the school, head of the PTA, a full time employee, and mother to three beautiful children. She is married to a salesman who travels 50% of the time leaving her to make all decisions on her own. She had her hands completely full with everyday life activities before she even thought of adding in the PTA, soccer, tennis, violin lessons, spend the nights, boy scouts. She needed to learn the word NO. So what if she didn't get recognized as parent of the year by the PTA. She was already parent of the year by God before she completely exhausted herself down to being so tired & overloaded. Midnight would roll around and she would never have everything done, she would often fall asleep typing an email or lining up tomorrows to do list. God is NOT going to bless a schedule that is too self-involved, too busy and too self-centered. God is NOT going to give you a hand accomplishing tasks that you fill your schedule with yourself while lacking to give God any appointment space.

Cut some ties, fold up some edges, sit down and redo that list for tomorrow one more time.

1. Get up and spend some quality, uninterrupted time with God.
   
   1. I get to work 30 minutes early to pray, meditate on the day ahead, and look up my daily bible verse.
      
2. Give up the expensive lunches and spend the whole lunch hour reading Gods word, updating a prayer/praise list.
   
   1. I make an effort to send out at least 2 cards offering my prayers to someone in need daily.
      
3. Listen to sermons in your car. Tell the radio, the negative, non-Godly seeking music (other than Christian) to take a hike.
   
   1. I listen to Joel Osteen every single time I get into my car. I go to you tube and just grab a new sermon daily.
      
4. Let your family, kids, friends see you spending your "free" time because you WANT TO, with God.
   
   1. I spend roughly 5 hours a daily in God's word, sermons, devotions and writing to help others and myself.
      
5. Write daily devotions. Keep a daily journal, reflect on the amazing doors that God opens opportunities God places in your life and SHARE them with others.
   
   1. It's not bragging its showing an example of what God has done in your life and strikes a curious bone in others bodies. Get their minds wondering!!
      

Cut out the extra 8 hours of junk in your life and replace it with:

    3 hours devotion and God time

Now look, you suddenly freed up 5 extra hours for SLEEP!

 

 

 

 

 

Go out into the world with God's schedule, an open book of God's word. Don't let your life get so cluttered with non-Godly things. Don't let your life become so packed with showing your kids off that you misplace yourself. We all need time to ourselves to reflect on our own personal relationship with God. Just being a good friend or a good parent is not enough to get you into Heaven. You cannot let someone else dictate your relationship with God. Your personal relationship with God is up to you, He will NOT chase you down for this time. "He will never leave you nor forsake you," (Deuteronomy 31:6), but he does want our time.

Don't be too busy for God. Don't be so consumed by the world that you miss Him calling your name. No one can make you miss the mark, miss your destiny, but every moment you are so consumed by the world, you are missing God's word.

 

 

 

Written by: Kylie Davis

 

1 John 2:17 "and the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, for the truth is that many will try to enter but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then if you stand outside knocking, and pleading, "Lord, open the door for us," he will reply, "I do not know you." Luke 13:24