{"id":2587,"date":"2013-03-05T07:37:23","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T14:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/?p=2587"},"modified":"2013-03-05T07:37:23","modified_gmt":"2013-03-05T14:37:23","slug":"the-best-question-to-ask-when-you-are-overwhelmed-and-stressed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2013\/03\/05\/the-best-question-to-ask-when-you-are-overwhelmed-and-stressed\/","title":{"rendered":"The best question to ask when you are overwhelmed and stressed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Standing at the base of something as big as Mt. Rainier can seem overwhelming and impossible, but lessons learned there can help us navigate the realities of life and leadership because you don\u2019t climb a mountain with a leap; you climb it step by step.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I mean:<\/em><\/p>\n

Taxes.\u00a0 Job stress.\u00a0 Family dysfunctions.\u00a0 Broken appliances.\u00a0 Big decisions.\u00a0 Illness.\u00a0 Car problems.\u00a0 Commuting stress.\u00a0 World news.\u00a0 The sum of all this is stress, and unless it\u2019s dealt with the stress itself will become a gigantic problem of its own as the chronic challenges conspire to create even more anxiety and health issues.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t a treadmill because at least on a treadmill you arrive back where you started.\u00a0 A deluge of paralyzing stress leads you instead down a path to oblivion.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to go there.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re overwhelmed, though, you will go there if you try to solve everything at once because it\u2019s too much \u2013 there are too many variables.\u00a0 Move one piece of the puzzle and it has implications on all the other pieces so that, after a frenzy of considering possibilities, you collapse exhausted, overwhelmed, into a pile of sleepless weariness.\u00a0 It happens \u2013 to all of us. The good news, though, is that there\u2019s always, always, a way off that path, a way back to peace, and hope, and joy.\u00a0 Interested?<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t be surprised by such seasons.<\/strong> The reality that we live in a broken world is undisputed and all the careful planning or simple living in the world won\u2019t exempt you from seasons that are challenging, beyond anything you\u2019d imagined.\u00a0 We faced a summer a few years ago where there was death around every corner, starting with my father in law, and ending with a friend who was a pastor on staff at the church I lead.\u00a0 Besides death there were other unwelcome cords woven into the fabric of our lives, including a heavy teaching schedule for me, and other personal challenges.<\/p>\n

Then fall came, and we entered a season of peace.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded that nothing stays the same and that as one of my favorite authors says, \u201cThere\u2019s a time for everything\u201d after which he articulates a long list of dualisms such as life\/death, joy\/sorrow, scatter\/gather, laughter\/mourning.\u00a0 We nod our heads.\u00a0 We get it.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that during those seasons when the dark side of those dualisms seems to appear in every area of our lives we find ourselves in over our heads.\u00a0 This too is a season and it will pass.\u00a0 But we\u2019d better learn how to live wisely in the midst of it, or our choices will lengthen it, or take us into even darker places.<\/p>\n

The way out of this dark forest always needs to include two things:<\/p>\n

2.Take it to the Source.\u00a0<\/strong> In several places we\u2019re reminded of just how important this is.\u00a0 We\u2019re told that we need be \u201canxious for nothing\u201d because if we bring our concerns to God in prayer, \u201cthe peace of of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s no way around this.\u00a0 You might have heard the saying, \u201cmeasure twice \u2013 cut once\u201d as a way of reminding us that by simply committing our way to Christ through prayer, we\u2019re taking a giant leap forward on the peace front.<\/p>\n

Since prayer is dialogue though, it\u2019s true that the peace we\u2019re offered comes not as some mystical anti-anxiety drug, as if Jesus magically infuses our emotions with some magical calming sense.\u00a0 Rather, the peace comes most often in the form of wisdom.\u00a0 We\u2019re invited, after all, to ask for wisdom whenever we need it, and to ask believing that we\u2019ll be given wisdom in response our asking.\u00a0 It\u2019s like asking your parents for more vegetables.\u00a0 You know they won\u2019t say no.<\/p>\n

3. Listen for \u201cnext step\u201d directions.<\/strong> But in our asking for wisdom, let\u2019s understand that the wisdom we receive from God will often come to us wearing a disguise.\u00a0 For example, sometimes a multiplication of options and problems can overwhelm and paralyze us with indecision.\u00a0 We ask for wisdom, thinking that what God will give us is some sort of grand map, or master plan so that we, having been privy to a few secrets regarding the future from omnipotent God, can make the right decisions.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t what God gives us though.\u00a0 He nearly always gives us a simple \u201cnext step\u201d to take.\u00a0 For Abraham, \u201cleave your country\u201d\u00a0 is all God says, without telling him exactly where he\u2019s going, how long it will take to get there, and what kind of challenges and adventures he\u2019ll encounter along the way.\u00a0 He just tells him to go.\u00a0 For the rich young ruler, \u201csell everything you own and give it to the poor\u201d.\u00a0 For Naaman the leper, \u201cGo take a bath\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 Over and over again, there\u2019s no revelation of a big plan or big vision or final solution; there\u2019s just a next step.<\/p>\n

So a man goes on a mission trip.\u00a0 It was planned to be two weeks.\u00a0 It was a next steps.\u00a0 Twenty years later he\u2019s still there.\u00a0 Or an architecture student decides that he gets more energized by building in people\u2019s lives than he does by designing structures, so he changes majors, having no idea that such a step would eventually land him as a senior leader in a big urban church.<\/p>\n

The same principles apply when we\u2019re overwhelmed and can\u2019t see around the corner.\u00a0 We still need to listen for the voice of Christ (and that implies having an ongoing relationship with Christ) and then taking the next step.\u00a0 Christ speaks to us through his scriptures, through conviction, and through the council of those whose wisdom we trust.\u00a0 Hearing from Christ, though, is critical to the process because we who follow Christ desire to do exactly that:\u00a0 follow Christ.\u00a0 Without revelation from Christ we can busy, trying hard to do the right things \u2013 but we\u2019re on our own, and to the extent that we\u2019re on our own, we end up missing the peace that comes from simply hearing, trusting, and stepping out.<\/p>\n

4. Take the next step.\u00a0<\/strong> Of course none of this works if we refuse to take the next step.\u00a0 That\u2019s often the crux of it, because the step Christ has for us is more often than not counter-intuitive.\u00a0 \u201cGive some stuff away\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSpeak that word you don\u2019t want to speak\u201d\u00a0 \u201cServe over there\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSay yes (or no) to that opportunity\u201d when the answer you want to hear is no (or yes).\u00a0 It can be challenging to ask for wisdom from God, but the reality is that if we ask, God will eventually show us a next step.<\/p>\n

Wisdom is learning to trust in that next step and focus all our energy there, rather than getting worried about a thousand \u201cwhat if\u2019s\u201d that might happen.\u00a0 \u201cLet the \u2018what if\u2019s\u2019 take care of themselves\u201d, is something Jesus said in his own way once.\u00a0 He said it because he loves us and wants us to be people of peace, people who are able to sleep at night because we\u2019ve come to believe that the future isn\u2019t in our control anyway.\u00a0 All we need to worry about is the next step.<\/p>\n

The first time I climbed Mt. Rainier, I was chopping along and my world had been reduced to two simple steps, repeated over and over again.\u00a0 Step.\u00a0 Rest.\u00a0 Repeat.\u00a0 I\u2019d gotten into a rhythm, had a headache and a bit of nausea, didn\u2019t know when, or even if, I\u2019d make the summit.\u00a0 Then the guide said, \u201cthis is it \u2013 the summit!\u201d and I looked around on the top of my world realizing that I didn\u2019t get here by autonomous decision making, or even a personal clear vision of the path, but simply by following the guide; step by simple step.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a strategy that\u2019s helped me send anxiety running away many times in life, and I hope you\u2019ll apply it.\u00a0 Today!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Standing at the base of something as big as Mt. Rainier can seem overwhelming and impossible, but lessons learned there can help us navigate the realities of life and leadership because you don\u2019t climb a mountain with a leap; you climb it step by step.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I mean: Taxes.\u00a0 Job stress.\u00a0 Family dysfunctions.\u00a0 Broken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,13],"tags":[23,56,43],"class_list":["post-2587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coffee-with-god","category-life","tag-calling","tag-discernment","tag-rest"],"yoast_head":"\nThe best question to ask when you are overwhelmed and stressed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Standing at the base of something as big as Mt. 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