The Overwhelmer of Overwhelm

A friend of mine is in the middle of a harrowing custody battle. She has an entire room of her house dedicated to the boxes of paperwork required for court dates. She feels like she can’t breathe when she approaches the doorway. The overwhelm has kept her from working on her papers for weeks. It’s all overdue.  

When I published my book, I was so exasperated with the many details involved that I would lie awake in bed watching a discombobulated to-do list dance maniacally across my ceiling. I was overwhelmed. 

One night I said to God, “What in the world am I supposed to do with all of this? It’s too much!”. And I heard in my spirit, “Treat it like a crime scene.” Um, okay.

So, I used all the crime scene expertise I'd gained from watching television detective shows, and created a to-do list based on their suspect walls—the ones with all the strings and arrows linking this person to this location, etc. Every time I remembered something else I had to do, I would write it on a color-coded note card and arrange it on the wall by category. By the time I published the book, an entire wall of my office was covered from the top of my head to the floor.

That was such a simple fix for the jumbled thoughts that had been chronically swimming around my mind. Once they were on the wall, I no longer had to think about them. And, unlike keeping a list on a notepad, I could see all outstanding tasks at one glance. And as I completed them, I would enjoy the satisfaction of removing the note card until, on one glorious day, the wall was empty.

I do realize that the analogue nature of this exercise seems archaic, but hard copy works for me. I’m a list-maker. Every room in my house has at least one list of some kind. Grocery list. Errand list. Christmas gifts I thought of in June list. People I’m praying for list. Shrubs I’d like to dig up and move to the other side of the yard list. Types of shoes I wish I had list. How do people who don’t make lists remember anything? Sticky notes are my sanity.

My husband has an aversion to lists. When he was young, he would wake up on sunny summer mornings to find a legal pad page full of all he had to get done that day before he could hang out with friends. Not surprisingly, he did not grow into a man who responds well to me making a list for him. So I just tell him. Then I tell him again. And maybe I text him about it. Then I mention it later. Then I bring it up while we’re out to dinner. And he’ll say something like, “Oh, yeah, I totally forgot. You have to remind me.” Sigh. Or, you know, just write it down somewhere, like maybe on a list. I digress.

All this to say, God’s instruction to me about my to-do list was not much different from what I normally do. I already write down lists in notepads by category, but “Treat it like a crime scene” led me to use a visual process that created at-a-glance connections and clear next steps. That minor tweak made a huge difference. I no longer had legal pads floating around with disorderly notes scribbled in the margins. I had clarity. I had spare space in my mind for other thoughts. I had peace instead of overwhelm. God is the overwhelmer of overwhelm.

I’m in a similar situation now. After publishing and spending some time marketing, I realized I was in an I-didn’t-know-what-I-didn’t-know situation. I fully believe that I am following God’s prompting to continue writing, but I need infrastructure. 

So now I’m in the next step (which should really be your the step) of creating an author platform, which, in my mind, is like a pile of robot parts that I, the opposite of an engineer, have been asked to assemble. Think website, social media, blog, media relations. I feel tired just typing that. Technical tasks are not my favorite. I wish I had tracked how many hours it took me to make my e-mail address verifiable so it wouldn’t automatically go to spam. It was unfathomably tedious. I wonder who creates these processes. What are their lives like? Are they sad? Because they make me sad. 

Ever been there? Maybe you’re overwhelmed with something right now.

Then let me lay this on you: 

“For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.”  2 Corinthians 9:10

I was reading this verse the other day, and I felt God reminding me that he doesn’t just give you a seed and some instructions and then take off. He is present and involved through the entire process, from the time you’re standing there with a big empty field and a handful of seeds until you sit down with a warm loaf of bread and a big block of brie. He provides every step through the process, even the underground ones, like a seed germinating. (For more thoughts on this, see Waymaker Breadmaker )

Just a few verses earlier, Paul wrote, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” He’s speaking to the Corinthians, reminding them that God is the provider of all things, even when they’re asked to do something hard, like financially support his ministry.

My hard thing was publishing my book without giving up. It was literally the hardest thing I’ve ever done—and I’ve had a baby! God was with me then, and he’s with me now.

Why would I think that the next steps within my author journey would be all up to me? Grace will abound. And it’s a good thing because when I read technical instructions, I need some serious grace to abound. For example, here is an excerpt of a single paragraph within about three pages of “simplified” instructions on how to ensure this newsletter doesn’t go to your spam folder. Feast your eyes:

“DKIM-sign your messages using your domain. Authenticate with SPF using your domain. Allow your messages to pass DMARC.”

What are they talking about? Why is everything a four-letter abbreviation? If you’re a technical person, let me just say that I am in awe. You are truly gifted. 

I’m so grateful that, even if I’m not naturally gifted in certain areas, God has promised to help me. When we generously spend our time and energy doing something that glorifies him and serves others, he has promised to increase our resources and to provide everything we need so that we will “abound in every good work.”

We don’t have to be overwhelmed with worry. We just have to invite him into the process and get started.