Let’s quickly talk about being overwhelmed. I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately—not so much from bad things, but just from too many things. Just a lot of stress and changes happening all at once in my life.

I was just about to turn to the Bible to see what God had to say to me about it, but before I even got that far, I immediately started thinking about how overwhelming God’s love is—about how it just overpowers absolutely everything. Suddenly, my feelings of overwhelmingness were quickly replaced with God‘s overwhelming goodness. It’s pretty incredible how the word “overwhelmed” just instantly took on such a new meaning to me.

Whenever I’m feeling overwhelmed by my circumstances, I’m just going to swiftly remind myself of the overwhelming goodness of God and how much of a better place that is to rest my mind.

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ (NLT)

It’s wild how many times this verse has come into my mind recently, although I should probably change it to say “a hundred different times” and not just three. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed to admit how many times I’ve begged the Lord to take things away from me. Whether it’s physical or mental pain, financial struggles, parental struggles—the list goes on and on. And just like in Paul’s case, God’s response is grace to navigate my problems rather than removing them.

We have to view our human weakness as being a platform for God’s strength to be displayed. It’s about acknowledging and embracing our human frailty and letting God‘s power work through us. I’m reminded to find joy in my weaknesses because I am met with Jesus during them. My human weakness is met with His strength. Your weakness might be the end of your own strength, but it’s only the beginning of God’s.

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭11‬:‭3‬ ‭(NKJV)‬‬

I just love this verse so much. It really speaks volumes—“the simplicity that is in Christ.” We tend to really overcomplicate religion, don’t we? All we need to be focusing on is JESUS. It’s that “simple.” We need to be vigilant against anything that might be pulling us away from Him. Our minds are so vulnerable and can so easily be deceived by the wiles of the devil and the flesh. We need to keep our minds fixed on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I recently came across something in my counseling studies that I would love to share. Isaiah 42:3 is a messianic prophetic passage that is later fulfilled in Matthew 12:20. The NLT version reads like this: “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. Finally He will cause justice to be victorious. And His name will be the hope of all the world.”

Metaphorically, both a weak reed and a flickering candle represent a person who is fragile and likely suffering a great deal of pain. This means that one’s faith is very low—like a reed that’s about to break, or a burning candle that’s almost extinguished. God will never quench a flickering candle, but rather He will sustain and grow even the smallest flicker of faith. He cares so deeply for the weak and the wavering. This verse greatly highlights the astonishing compassion of Jesus—and it gives us hope to cling to, even if we only have a very small trace of it left. His victory will always prevail over everything.

As I was preparing for a coaching session with someone recently, I started studying laments. In the dictionary, a lament is defined as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. In a more biblical sense, a lament is defined as a prayer in pain that leads to trust—meaning that it’s a deep and powerful expression of pain brought before the Lord that ultimately reaffirms your faith in Him.

There’s actually an entire book in the Bible called Lamentations, but there are also so many great laments in the book of Psalms—it’s full of them. Psalms has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible for that reason—because it’s filled with so much raw emotion that’s just so relatable to so many.

Psalm 88 in particular is one that really stands out to me. It’s actually one of the few Psalms that doesn’t resolve and ends in darkness. The last verse says: “You have taken away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is my closest friend.” I find it so moving how this serves as such a strong reminder of just how much God welcomes our darkest cries of pain.

Crying out to the Lord really is such a beautiful thing. He sanctifies our sorrow as we surrender it to Him. It’s about passionately taking it all before the Lord and letting it lead you to having deeper faith and a closer relationship with Him.

Very often when I’m trying to think of what I want to write about and share next, I start with how I’m feeling. Lately, I’ve really been feeling like I just try too hard at life. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean by that, but I guess just the sense that I try a little too hard to be the person that I want to be and live the life that I want to live, if that makes sense. I’ve been starting to feel some conviction from it.

The first word that came to my mind was “covetousness.” In biblical terms, covetousness can be defined as an insatiable desire for worldly gain. And then the next word that came to my mind was “pride.” We all know what pride is.

I had to ask myself these two questions: Am I content? Am I being more of a people pleaser than a God pleaser? I turned to the Bible to address both of these issues.

Not only does the tenth commandment tell us not to covet, but it’s also talked about in several other parts of the Bible as well. Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV) says, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”” Wow. This certainly gives us the best reason ever not to covet—because God has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Our security comes from Him and only Him, not the things of this world. I’m strongly reminded that God is all I need, and God will always give me all that I need.

Galatians 1:10 (NIV) says: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” We really can’t serve two masters. If you’re only seeking to please people—you’re not serving God, you’re serving yourself. We are to have the same mind as Christ. I’m swiftly reminded to lower myself and serve the Lord with a heart full of humility.

I could seriously go on and on, but I think I’ve made this long enough to get my point across. We’re so blessed to have the Word of God to help us through this crazy life.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” ‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭(NLT)‬‬

I love the way this passage starts out—because it can really just throw you off and make you scratch your head. Like, how could one possibly consider their troubles an opportunity for great joy?

James is encouraging people to rethink how they look at their troubles—by viewing them as opportunities instead of setbacks. He’s saying that each time our faith is tested, it just keeps increasing our ability to exercise patience and remain steadfast in the face of adversity more and more. Our trials are used as tools to strengthen our faith and better equip us for anything else that may lie ahead. When you understand this and really start to apply it to your life, everything changes.

There is always a deeper purpose behind your pain than what you can immediately see happening. You’re not just suffering, you’re transforming.

When you read through the Bible, you’ll notice how it doesn’t ever try to hide or downgrade the hardships and the struggles of those who are in it—rather, it magnifies them. They are continuously used as demonstrations of God’s transformative power. They display for us how God uses imperfect people in the most perfect ways. They show us how God gives us immeasurable peace, strength, and love in every situation. They help us to see the importance of faith, trust, perseverance, and repentance. They illustrate for us the amazing gifts of grace and mercy. They teach us lessons and give us hope.

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭(NLT‬‬)

You are not failing, you are fighting. Every time you start to feel like you are failing—whether it’s with your emotions, your relationships, your job, your finances, your recovery, or anything that life throws at you—replace the word failing with the word fighting. You are not failing, you are fighting—and God is fighting with you. Don’t give up.

“For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭20‬:‭4‬ ‭(NKJV)‬

I think people often backslide or begin to lose hope in God when things aren’t going well for them. Sometimes it may feel as if God has forgotten about you, or maybe that He just doesn’t care about your situation. Have you ever asked yourself the question, “why do I keep praying and nothing changes?” I’m here to tell you that God is very much listening, and things are very much changing—whether you’re noticing it right away or not.

Sometimes it’s hard to see those small, subtle changes that are slowly building on each other when you’re only focusing on the bigger picture and the anticipated end result. Try focusing more on what’s right in front of you—what’s being built. It’s like the famous phrase, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

God has a plan for you. It may not always be what you would immediately expect, and it’s definitely not always in the timing that you would expect either—but it’s there and it’s good. His answers are not always quick. They could just be one small building block at a time—but they are there and they are good.

I hate to see people start to give up on their dreams, goals, and aspirations because they are losing faith after not seeing instant success. God is always working. He wants so much for you to step into the calling that He has for you with full trust. Keep praying, keep building, and keep believing. God is good all the time, even when your current circumstances are not.

“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭(NKJV)‬‬