Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Maybe you have more than one person can do. Or perhaps sheer boredom beats you down. Or maybe you’re overwhelmed by grief or circumstances beyond your control.

This past few weeks, despite consistency being a high priority for this blog, I’ve struggled to get posts written. To keep my memoir, The Windblown Girl, on track something had to give. Emails needed to be sent requesting endorsements, a launch team needs to be cultivated and activated, launch parties need to be planned, and most urgent I’ve been going through the manuscript a couple more times to ensure everything reads smoothly as cover design gets underway and interior design follows right after.

All that has made me grateful that overwhelming circumstances through the years have taught me how to navigate stormy seas when I’m feeling like I’m about to sink. You might appreciate some of these applications, too.

Adjust Your Expectations

Ending an unsustainable relationship with the love of my life and being a young single mom with an 18-month-old son, a job that barely paid the bills, a big yard to mow and a home that needed constant attention brought me to the point of despair. At least until I read a poem that has encouraged me for more than three decades. Whenever circumstances become more difficult than I can handle, its biblical concepts come to mind.

Grace Noll Crowell’s poem “Promised Strength” published in Apples of Gold (c. 1960) taught me that when I cry out for strength I can expect help from the Living God. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus encourages me (and you, too) to:

Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is comfortable, and My burden is light.

Trying to take care of my problems alone is oppressive and depressing. Handing my burden over to Jesus and asking Him to teach me shifts my expectations from my “self,” to Christ. That sets me up to learn how to eat an elephant without being consumed myself!

Take One Step at a Time

Again Crowell’s poem helped:

I took one step and I found it quite easy indeed to take,

And the burden slid from my shoulders,

and my heart that was ready to break.

Gave thanks that my eyes were opened

and my shoulders eased of their load,

as I saw, step by step I was strengthened

to walk on the roughest road.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He died for us because He knows we’re not. Our weaknesses don’t surprise Him. He simply wants us to admit them. 2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds us that:

He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Many mornings I get up knowing I don’t have enough strength to get through the day, especially after a sleepless night stewing over one project or another. Asking Christ to exchange my weakness for His strength never fails to supply plenty of Christ’s power to draw from.

Instead of looking down the road to the future, focusing on the next step helps me make progress. Moving forward keeps me from being overwhelmed by my circumstances. Yet on occasion, I’ll run into closed doors and then I have different lessons to learn.

Give Yourself Freedom to Fail

No one can be perfect at everything. That’s reality. Giving myself permission to fail sets me free to take risks. Though that’s scary becoming a risk-taker, who is not afraid to fail, eases my sense of being overwhelmed. Rather than thinking I have to do it all,  I can do my best and leave the results to God. And, with Christ’s guidance, most of the time, I succeed!

When I was out of work and couldn’t find a job, I gave my problem over to Jesus and He walked me step-by-step right into a job at a science-faith think tank. I wasn’t at all sure what would happen there, because I wasn’t into science, but determining to do my best, I knew that if I failed I’d survive. and Jesus would still love me. That career opportunity turned into one of the best I ever had and after almost a decade set the stage for my future.

Find Peace Despite the Challenges

While editing a biochemist’s book, I felt like I was in way over my head. At first I cried. The chemistry completely overwhelmed my knowledge. Then Philippians 4:6-7 helped me remember how to find peace when life feels out of control:

Do not be anxious about anything,but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Praying with thanksgiving for my paycheck and the opportunities I was being given gave me peace even though I seriously doubted my capability. God’s strength and power sustained me and I ended up loving that book. The science fascinated me and for nearly a decade I flourished in my profession. Eventually another overwhelming circumstance in that place led to even greater opportunities.

These steps make life an adventure–one filled with challenges, strength to overcome them, and peace in the process. If you have an overwhelming situation, asking Jesus for His promised strength is a good place to start on a fantastic adventure of your own.