Top 10 signs you're overcommitted

by Julie Sallee for ec magazine

10. You lost your daily planner, and it literally left you in a panicked, out-of-control, hysterical state.

9. You don't take the time to listen to your voicemails until the inbox is completely maxed out.

8. Your Facebook relationship status says "In a relationship with caffeine."

7. You can't even watch a new episode of your favorite show without thinking of what you have to do as soon as it is over.

6. Anxiety attacks are now a part of your everyday routine, just like fast food for lunch and faster food for supper.

5. You constantly find yourself looking at you dog in envy of its simple lifestyle.

4. You tried to say "no," but it came out as "no problem."

3. It has been at least a week since anyone heard your voice over the phone—who has time for a conversation when texting is so much faster?

2. So what if you haven't showered or flossed in almost three days . . . hygiene is secondary to sleep.

1. Sleep? S-L-E-E-P? You must be joking!

Do these sound like you? If so, here's some advice:
• Evaluate what's going on. Where is the pressure coming from? Do your parents have great expectations for you and you feel overwhelmed by that? Talk to them! Don't be disrespectful or argumentative, but do be honest. Is the pressure coming from you? Take a step back and evaluate. Spend some time in prayer. Talk with your parents or trusted, mature Christian advisers. Learn the lesson now that you can't always do everything.

• Learn to listen, take deep breaths, and don't underestimate the power of taking a break from a stressful situation.

• Are you taking too much on yourself? This could be your workload, class load, problems—and sometimes it might even include other peoples' problems. You can't take responsibility for everything in the world and not everything is your fault. If it's school work that's stressing you out, break things down into smaller tasks. Learn some basic study skills and plan ahead. Don't procrastinate. If you're having trouble juggling work, school, sports, or whatever it is you do, understand that there's no shame in NOT doing something. Talk things through with your parents. Pray and ask for God's leadership in the situations. Follow the Holy Spirit's leading to the things that are most important and spend your time there.

• Don't mistake all your accomplishments for self-worth. Sometimes we get caught up in doing a lot of things because it makes us feel useful, important, and someone who is worth something. That's not the truth. Your worth is found in the fact that you are made in God's image and He loves you. You are a child of God; let that define who you are and what you do. If you recognize that you are trying to find worth in the things you do, talk to your parents about it. Enlist a trusted Christian friend or mentor to talk to when you start to feel overwhelmed by your lack of perfection. Do what Scripture says and take negative thoughts captive (2 Cor. 10:5) and erase negative talk from your vocabulary.

Finally, understand this: sometimes, God uses the most broken, disappointing moments of your life to teach you about Himself. Maybe you can't handle whatever it is you're facing—and that's kind of the point. God wants to handle it and display His power in and through your life. That's easy to say, but it's hard to submit to when you're actually going through it. But you can trust Him. He doesn't leave when things get tough.


© 2009 LifeWay Christian Resources
Julie Sallee, "Top 10 signs you are overcommitted," ec magazine, May 2009, LifeWay Christian Resources: Nashville, 2009, p. 8.

© 2008 LifeWay Christian Resources
Mandy Crow, "Overwhelmed: Ways to fight back," ec magazine, December 2008, LifeWay Christian Resources: Nashville, 2008, p. 56-58.

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Is anxiety eating you alive?

“I have this anxiety problem where I worry myself sick, literally. I really need some memory verses that I can say to myself every day to reassure myself that God will help me when I'm in doubt.”
—ec reader Madison

Not long ago on our fan page on Facebook, one of our readers wrote those words on our wall.

And those words hit me right in the middle of my forehead. Because I was dealing with the same thing. Anxiety about family matters, work stuff, and just in general. Lately, I’ve been waking up with this feeling of anxious waiting, just knowing that somehow something is wrong and the other shoe has to drop at some point. My stomach hurts. My mind questions. I cry out to Jesus for peace.

Because I know He is the Prince of Peace. And I know that taking every thing in my life that could be worrisome and internalizing it is not the life God has called me to live. His Word is very clear about that. So, when Madison’s words popped up on my screen, I knew that God had something to say to me about my worrying. I just had to open His Word and read it. Here’s what I discovered about God’s thoughts on worry and anxiety:

• Psa. 13:2: How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me?

• Matt. 6:25: “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

• Matt. 6:26-29: “Look at the birds of the sky: they don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!”

• Matt. 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

• Luke 12:22-32: Then He said to His disciples: “Therefore I tell you, don’t worry about your life, what you will eat; or about the body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they don’t sow or reap; they don’t have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than the birds? Can any of you add a •cubit to his height by worrying? If then you’re not able to do even a little thing, why worry about the rest? “Consider how the wildflowers grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass, which is in the field today and is thrown into the furnace tomorrow, how much more will He do for you—you of little faith? Don’t keep striving for what you should eat and what you should drink, and don’t be anxious. For the Gentile world eagerly seeks all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. “But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.

• Phil. 4:6: Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

• 1Pet. 5:6-7: Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.

It’s clear that God wants us to cast our burdens and worries on Him. We just have to let Him help us through the anxious times. Take His Word to heart; God doesn’t go back on His promises.

So, let's just do this together: Father God, Jesus, we just give you all this anxiety in our lives. You are in control, and we trust you to complete the good work in us that you started. You know the burdens of our hearts and all these concerns. Help us to let go of them and let you have control and work in these situations. May You be glorified in every part of our lives, even these things that worry us. Amen.