Devotionals for the Heart: What to do when you feel overwhelmed

Putting the Overwhelm on a Shelf
A devotional by Jessica Brodie

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”—Matthew 6:34 (ESV)

Have you ever been so stressed out, overwhelmed, and anxiety-filled that you thought you were going to go mad with the turmoil?

I’ve been there! A lot of us have. My daughter recently started attending college as a freshman. I can only imagine how these kids feel having to deal with living in dorms and having all this freedom and yet also having to keep up with classes and not become overwhelmed.

Then there are the people who have just lost a job or a spouse, or been hit with a horrible health diagnosis, while life piles up around them. I imagine people living in nations overrun by war, famine, religious persecution, or political hostility. People who must worry about how to provide for their families in the midst of this turmoil. And then there’s the overwhelm many of us deal with just in regular, everyday life—the constant pressure of work and bills and family and responsibility. Maybe you’ve become weary in hearing all that talk about work-life balance, the need to be purposeful while also just getting through it all. It becomes overpowering at times and can make you feel like you’re drowning in the ocean.

It’s time for us to put the overwhelm on a shelf and trust that God is going to see us through it. This is all easier said than done, of course. Still, the metaphor of turning all that stress mess into a tangible item and placing it on a shelf, is a powerful one for me. I first learned how to do this about a decade ago when my young daughter who is diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, was being helped by a wise counselor who said exactly that: Visualize putting it on a shelf. Take all the stuff swirling through your mind, all the fears, and imagine taking it in your hands, putting it in a box, and just sticking it on the shelf. “Tell yourself you can always come back to it later,” she counseled. “Later you can take it out and deal with it if you really want to, but right now the best thing you can do is just put it on the shelf.”

Her counselor’s wise advice resonated with me on the soul level because it’s exactly what Jesus Christ spoke about in The Holy Bible. He taught his followers in chapter six of the book of Matthew not to be anxious about our daily needs, for God will provide for us just as he does for the birds. There’s no point in worrying because it won’t add even an hour to our lives. Rather, we need to fix our eyes upon God’s Kingdom—that’s our real priority.

“Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 (ESV). It’s a message repeated throughout Scripture: Do not fear. Trust the Lord.

Fear is not just concern for your mortality; it’s also that burning, soul-crushing worry about how we’re going to get through a situation, the sort of worry that consumes us, getting in the way of everything else. That sort of fear can be paralyzing. It becomes a wall between us and the Lord.

Maybe we think worry is harmless. Maybe we scoff, “How can I not worry?” But if we realize the wall it builds—the wall that stands between us and our Creator (God), how it interferes with joy and hope and God’s purpose for us—it might make it easier to stuff that fear in a box and put it on the shelf so we can focus on the truly important.

I’m not sure who needs to hear this today. Perhaps we all do. I know I certainly do. But I hope you’ll name the worry in your heart, visualize putting it in a box, and set it aside. When you strip it of its power over you, the Lord replaces that space with more than you can imagine.

Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, some days it all seems like too much. My mind swirls with the press of it all. Help me surrender and lean on You, to have true faith that You are sovereign and will get me through anything in front of me right now. Help me to be still and know in the depths of my soul, in the entirety of my being, that You are everything, You have all the answers, and there is nothing on this earth that outweighs this. I love You, Lord. Help me, I pray. I give all of this to you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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Song of Reflection #1: “No Fear” by Jon Reddick. Listen to it here.

Song of Reflection #2: “Everything” by Lauren Daigle. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio: 

Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach. 

Her two Christian contemporary novels, The Memory Garden and Tangled Roots, are Amazon bestsellers and her third novel, Hidden Seeds, is out now and is a top release. Learn more about Jessica’s writing ministry and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com. 

She has a YouTube devotional, and you can also connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and more. She’s also produced a free eBook, A God-Centered Life: 10 Faith-Based Practices When You’re Feeling Anxious, Grumpy, or Stressed. She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism.