Every so often, we go through periods in life when it seems like we are in the middle of a storm. We feel pressure from all sides.  It seems as though more is being asked of us than we can possibly do.  The past few weeks have been like that for me.  One of my family members had surgery which required many trips to and from the hospital.  At the same time, I had numerous school obligations for my daughter.  Add on to that work and the normal tasks of running a household, and my “To Do” list was far too long.  All I could think was, “Dear God, I don’t think I can handle one more thing.”

Now if I had perfect faith, my mind would have been at ease. I would have known that everything would be just fine.  I would have simply decided to “Do my best, and let God do the rest.”  But that is easier said than done.

How do we live a life in which we do what we can do, and let God handle the rest? The first step is to accept that we can only do so much.  There are only so many hours in each day, and we only have so much energy.  When I was running back and forth to the hospital, the round trip was three hours.  There was one day that I said to myself, “I should really go to the hospital twice today.”  That would have been six hours of driving in one day.  That day I also had other commitments and tasks that I needed to accomplish.  After fretting about it, I finally let myself off the hook.  I said to myself, “I can only do one trip to the hospital today.  I wish I could do more, but I can’t.”  Sometimes we just need to be realistic about what we are able to do.  Then we need to trust that God will take care of things when we can’t be present.

We also have to keep moving forward, no matter what. When we are overwhelmed, it is easy to just throw our hands up in the air and do nothing.  Instead, we need to do what we can.  If nothing else, when facing challenges, we need to do some small things to keep life going in a positive direction.  For example, when life gets too chaotic, simply make sure that the beds are made and the dishes are done.  Check one or two small things off your “To Do” list.  And then accept that you won’t be able to do everything.  Some days, we will not do everything that we should have done.  That is OK.  Very often, you’ll find that God will use other people to fill in the gaps that we missed.

In addition, try to keep a calm frame of mind.  When we are under stress, our patience is short.  It is easy to be snap at others, and lose our tempers.  But that only alienates us from others.  Worse yet, we don’t feel very good about ourselves after we are rude or impatient.  To stay calm, try to get as much “alone” time as possible during stressful periods. Go out for a cup of coffee, take a walk, or read a book.  Do something alone that gives you a break from the world.  Being alone gives us a break from the needs of others.  It allows us to steady our minds.  Taking time to be alone isn’t selfish.  It is necessary.  For those of us who are introverts, being alone is as necessary as eating and breathing.  Give yourself permission to take time to be by yourself, and know that God will take care of everyone else in your absence.

We all face times when we are asked to do more than what seems humanly possible. Those are the times when it is important to have faith that God is with us.  He doesn’t expect us to do everything perfectly.  He just asks that we do our best, and then He will do the rest.

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)