Chin Up?
Guaranteed Solution to Overwhelm
“Why can’t someone toss me the guaranteed solution to overwhelm?” This is the question I asked myself as I scrambled to keep my head above water.
I looked at my list and sighed. Like, one of those big sighs that lasts so long, you wonder if there is any breath left in your lungs. I saw all the tasks that I had found important enough to write down. You know the tasks…the things for the house, the things for the family, the things for the job, the things for the church, the things for the people….ALL the things.
All the things. (sigh.)
With that huge sigh, my body sank…in a posture of defeat. How would I get it all done? Who am I failing by only picking a few tasks to accomplish? Why can’t I be like those other people that have endless energy to pound out all their tasks on their list?
Slowly, my defeat turned to despair.
There was no way I could get it all done. That thought was paralyzing for me, a very Type A personality. Something had to give.
So, I thought to myself…Chin up, girl! Chin up! Don’t be defeated, just take one thing at a time. Tackle what you can! You can do this! You know all that positive self-talk, right? The things that those New York Times Bestselling authors tell us to do in order to achieve a million tasks in an hour? Yes, I tried to tell myself all those things. All the things.
But it didn’t work. Because there was still defeat in my heart.
All the self-help authors in the world could not remove that defeat from my heart.
“Chin up” was not going to cut it.
Then, I heard this statement from a wise woman…..
God cannot lift an unbowed head.
God cannot lift an unbowed head. -Meredith Brock
Remember ALL THE THINGS I had on that very important list of tasks?
Do you think God was on that list? No.
Do you think I had scheduled time with God in that very busy week? Nope.
Do you think I woke that morning genuinely desiring to accomplish what God chose? No.
Friends, I did not have ALL the things on that list. In fact, I was missing the ONE thing that should have been on it! God!
God cannot lift an unbowed head.
Someone once told me that when you are so busy that you don’t have time to pray, you should stop to pray all the more. And in that, the prayers are not to be just me asking God for something….they can be heartfelt prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving and reverence for the ONE who created me.
If you are at all like me and need a list to get you through your day of tasks….may I humbly suggest that we put God on our list? May we consider placing Him at the top, even?
Let’s bow our heads to the one, true God…so that when we are overwhelmed or worried or begin to feel defeat, He can gently lift our bowed head.
God IS all the things. He is IN all the things. He wants us to bring glory to His name THROUGH all the things.
God IS all the things. He is IN all the things. He wants us to bring glory to His name THROUGH all the things.
But He must come first. He’s the only one that can remove the defeat and replace it with peace. Not just in our to-do list…but in ALL THE THINGS.
Chin up? Not in my own effort. But God will lift my chin high when my head is bowed to Him.
Do you have a hurt that needs to hear hope?
You can watch our story, Our Journey From Hurt to Hope, HERE.
