stress Archives - Sharla Fritz

Sharla Fritz

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Grace for the Overwhelmed

psalm 3-4

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Drowning in despair? Floundering in mountains of tasks, duties, and responsibilities?

Find grace for your life in Psalm 3.

Just a little background about this psalm.

The book of Psalms is divided into five “books” or divisions. Psalm 3 is, of course, part of Book 1 (Psalms 1-41). This first book of Psalms is sometimes called the Yahweh Psalter because Yahweh is the name for God that is used most often in this section. Most of the psalms in the “Yahweh Psalter” were written by David.

Scholars have classified the psalms into several categories including: wisdom psalms, hymns, and laments. Psalm 3 is described at a psalm of individual lament. Characteristics of lament psalms are: they often begin with an invocation such as, “Oh, Lord” and they contain a plea for help.

But what I love about this psalm is that it gives hope to the overwhelmed.

David himself was overwhelmed by his enemies when he wrote the psalm. It was written when almost the whole nation of Israel rose up against him–including his own son Absalom.

It’s no wonder he cries out in despair:

O Lord, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me, many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. (Psalm 3:1-2)

Don’t you love it that we can call out to God whenever we feel beaten down and crushed by life? Yes, the world may doubt that God can help, but we who know the Lord are confident of His help.

And that is what David says next:

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. (Psalm 3:3-4)

David doesn’t stay in lament mode for long. He quickly acknowledges God’s protection and blessing. He reminds himself that Yahweh hears his prayers.

David is so confident of the Lord’s help, that he goes to sleep:

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. (Psalm 3:5-6)

God wants us to be so sure of His strength and love that we can rest in Him. Even though thousands of people (or dozens of problems) are against us, we don’t have to be afraid if God is on our side.

Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! (Psalm 3:7-8)

In the end, David call out to God again. He reminds himself that God is the one who saves.

I have to admit that when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I don’t always turn to God first.

I often try to fix things myself. I read more self-help books about time management. I look up information on getting organized–thinking that will help overcome my problems.

Psalm 3 reminds me that God is the “lifter of my head”–the one who gives victory. He is my shield–a Protector against my troubles. He is my Savior.

Yahweh is always available to listen. He longs for me to come to Him for help. Share on XWhen I turn to Him the Lord gives rest even in the midst of the chaos.

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Turn to the Lord for help.

Next step: David laments about his many enemies. What or who are the enemies in your life? Difficult people? A multitude of bills? Overwhelming schedule? Write a list and then take it to God. Ask Him for wisdom and power to conquer the foes. Find rest in Him.

Three Steps to Come Out From Under the Pile of Shoulds

The pile of the things I “should” do is daunting. The “shoulds” overwhelm me.

Today I should finish writing a chapter for my new book, finish a project for an organization I’m a part of, clean my disaster of a basement, harvest beans in my garden, and finish this blog post.

In addition, experts tell me that every day I should exercise for thirty minutes, eat at least five fruits and vegetables, avoid saturated fat, consume 25 grams of fiber. To be prepared for emergencies I should have an emergency kit in my basement, store gallons of water, and have a crank radio. In order to get ahead,I really should make thousands of connections on social media, pay attention to my stock portfolio, hire style experts, improve my public speaking…

It’s overwhelming just to list all the things I should do.

The other day I was reading the story in the Bible where Jesus comes to Martha’s house for dinner. I know. You’ve heard this story before. We are all supposed to be more like Mary and less like Martha. Yada. Yada.

But read the story again and notice the highlighted word.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

(Luke 10:38-42 NIV 1984)

When I noticed that little word, I had a lightbulb moment: Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.

Martha felt she should make a big dinner for Jesus. She thought she should be in the kitchen.

But who told her she should be doing these things?

It wasn’t Jesus.

Jesus obviously didn’t order Martha to prepare a meal–He commends the sister who is not in the kitchen. Did someone else tell her she had to take responsibility for the meal? Martha probably had servants to whom she could have delegated the work.

Yet she felt she should prepare the meal.

Often when I’m feeling overwhelmed it’s because of the many “shoulds” in my life. I should keep my home in perfect order. I should have an impressive job. I should be helping more people. I start to feel buried under the piles of things I should be doing.

Who told me I should do all those things? Perhaps God commanded some of the things I need to do. But it just might be that I am the one who placed too many shoulds on my plate. I said yes to too many responsibilities. I took on too many tasks.

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I have to take a good look at the nitwit who said “yes” too often. I have to accept the responsibility for being overcommitted.

When you’re overwhelmed and overcommitted try doing these three things to get out from under that pile of “shoulds”:

  1. Ask yourself, “Who is telling me I should do this?’ God didn’t tell Martha she had to make a meal for Him. He wanted her to spend some time with Him instead. Too many times I am doing what I think I need to do or what some expert thinks I need to do and neglecting what God wants me to do.
  2. Sit at Jesus feet. This is what Jesus desired for Martha. It’s what He desires for us. Take time to listen to Him. Don’t jump into tasks that were not meant for you.
  3. Ask Jesus, “What do you want me to do?” Ignore the nagging voice in your head. Ignore the experts. Find out what God wants you to do.

Come out from under the pile of “shoulds.”

Next step: Make a list of all the things that you feel you should do today. For each item, ask yourself, “Who is telling me I should do this?” Then prayerfully take them to Christ and ask Him, “What do You want me to do?” In this process, you may discover that some things need to be removed from your list.

7 Habits That Promote Soul Rest: One Thing

One Thing

I have long suffered from the syndrome of TTDIA–Trying To Do It All.

My calendar is filled with activities. My planner is stuffed with unmet goals. I try to pack more and more into each day only to realize when it’s time to go to bed that I haven’t accomplished even half of what I set out to do.

My frenetic pace reached a climax a little over a year ago. I knew things had to change, but I didn’t know how to make the shift. I could figure out what action to take.

Then my husband was diagnosed with a disease even more serious than TTDIA. The doctors told him he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma. It was a shock for this usually healthy-as-a-horse man. Medical personnel assured us that his prognosis was good, but now our time was spent in doctor’s offices, medical test facilities, and chemotherapy labs.

Obviously, my priorities changed. Activities and goals that seemed so essential became unimportant.

But life went on (thankfully) and certain things still needed to be done. I felt restless and anxious over how I would accomplish everything.

In the midst of the chaos, God gave me a solution. Instead of Trying To Do It All, He invited me to ask Him what needed to be done.

7 HABITS #4So I began a new habit. Each day I would ask my wise Father, “What is the one thing You want me to accomplish?” I focused on completing this task as soon as possible. Then, even if nothing else got crossed off my to-do list, I had the confidence that I had finished what the Lord had asked of me.

Thankfully, my husband is now in remission. (Thank You, Lord!) But I have continued this habit. This simple morning exercise brings me daily soul rest.

TTDIA is exhausting. If you’ve ever suffered from this syndrome you know the symptoms: feelings of anxiety, fear, and dread crowd your heart.

But when we ask the Father what is truly important and fulfill His desire for our day we will find peace, sufficiency, and strength.

When we ask the Father what is truly important and fulfill His desire for our day we find soul rest. Share on X

[By the way, the habit of One Thing is also one of the habits I teach in my eCourse Distracted: 12 Faith-Focus Habits for a Frenzied World. Find out more about this course by clicking here.]

Next step: Every morning this week, ask the Father, “What is the One Thing You want me to do today?” Then whether He points you to an item on your to-do list or asks you to accomplish something you didn’t even think of, focus on that task first. 

 

 

The One Way to Truly Manage Stress

How do you manage stress? Picture these modern stress management scenarios.

A young woman rushes into Starbucks, brows knitted, fists clenched tight and orders a Venti Mocha Latte, “Double espresso please.”

A child chews on the eraser end of her pencil as she bends over her social studies test.

Fighting through rush-hour traffic a man tightly grips his steering wheel and screams at the driver who just cut him off.

All of these people tried relieving their stress in different ways.

A few years ago I attended a workshop on overcoming stress. There is no way to escape stress. We all face work deadlines, family responsibilities, monthly bills, crazy-mad traffic, and long, long, long checkout lines.

The speaker at the workshop said that while stress solutions like deep breathing and cat naps might reduce stress for awhile, there is only one real way to truly manage stress.

Change your mindset.

Since we can’t change the length of the checkout line or the work deadline, we must change how we think about them.

Often when we are under stress we have a series of sentences we repeat over and over to ourselves. For instance, when a work deadline looms your brain might sing a refrain of:

I’m just no good at this.

I’ll never get the project done on time.

Surely, I will fail.

These choruses will not reduce stress–only increase them. What we need to do instead is change the channel in our heads to play a different song. Instead of telling yourself, “I’m no good at this” you might tell yourself “The boss wouldn’t give me this job if she didn’t think I could do it” or “I mastered that other difficult program, I will conquer this task too.”

As Christians, we can take this one step further and use the power of Scripture to compose our truth songs. When the brain starts singing the tune “I’m no good at this” you can counter with:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13 NKJV). While we may need to do something difficult, God promises to be with us and give us what we need to accomplish the task.

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure (Psalm 18:32 NIV). When we need stress relief, we go to the Father who promises strength for our tired souls and security in Him even in this uncertain world.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27 ESV). Yes, we may be stressed out, but Jesus tells us to chase that stress away because He can give us peace. Peace that doesn’t depend on everything going just as planned, but peace in Him no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in.

If people’s thinking is controlled by the sinful self, there is death. But if their thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. (Romans 8:6 NCV). If we ask the Holy Spirit to transform our thoughts, He can change our thinking from worry and anxiety to life and peace.

Use the power of Scripture to combat stress!

Next step: Which Scripture will help you most in managing your stress? Somehow make it visible today: write it on a card to carry with you, scribble it on a sticky note to post on your bathroom mirror, make it your screen saver on your phone. Remind yourself that although we may not be able to change our stressful circumstances, we can change how we think about them.