The Paralysis of Overwhelmed

The overwhelmed screams loudly as the crazy of the season catches up with me.  I can’t shake it.  Even in the midst of a freed-up morning, I feel paralyzed by all that I have to do.  I get my kids to school and return home to the dishwasher full of clean plates and bowls and silverware and the sink that overflows with their dirty counterparts.

I ask myself emphatically and literally spin around in my kitchen hoping for a sign.  I have so much to do that I don’t even know how to pick where to start.  My mind spins too.  But somehow even in the spinning, I feel a sort of whisper in the deep innermost places of where my thoughts come from, and I remember the quiet that Almighty God offers.  The peace that He gives.

I see my Bible on the table, but I don’t reach for it.  Not yet.  Instead, I go straight to my knees.  My face, actually.  Right in the middle of the very minutes I have to get even one thing crossed off my list, I lay on the floor and tell God the Lord of my life, that He is just that.  He remembers.  It was me that needed reminding.  And the loud overwhelmed quiets down as I ask the Lord of my life to show me what to do, how to do it.

He reminds me that this is His plan afterall.  His hand that has brought me to right here.  This season of my life, this season of the year.  And right there in the middle of my living room floor, He breathes air into the lungs of my soul and whispers away the paralysis and reminds me that He is the Almighty and Sovereign God above all.

I get up off the floor and find my dishes still undone.  But when I see them this time, their effect is quite different.  No almost-swearing or hopeless burden of busyness.  Instead, I can think clearly.  So I make a list and start on the easys and realize that somehow I no longer feel paralyzed.  And just maybe I’ll get something done today.