Feeling Overwhelmed

I am so overwhelmed. Have you ever said these words? I’m guessing yes. We all have from time to time. Situations arise in our lives that seem overwhelming, causing us to start a downward spiral into the dark pit of depression. Even if you don’t struggle with depression there will be times that you spirit isn’t right. You feel down and sad. This is a mild form of depression and everyone experiences it in their lifetime. It’s part of our humanness. Most of the time our overwhelmed spirit will rebound relatively fast. Once the circumstance is managed our spirit returns to a healthy level. For those of us who struggle with depression we can get stuck in this feeling of being overwhelmed. It seems like we will never shake free. Why do we feel overwhelmed by sometimes minor things? I believe that the answer lies in something many times we overlook. “Focus!”

Our focus plays a role in our feeling overwhelmed, so we need to be aware of what we focus on. Most of the time we are more focused on our circumstances than we are on anything else. We focus on how to address our situation and alleviate our feeling overwhelmed. It’s not wrong for us to focus on resolving our circumstances, thus relieving the overwhelming feeling we have. In fact, it’s something we must do. But our main focus doesn’t need to be our circumstances. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18). The unseen the apostle Paul is speaking of is Jesus. He is the eternal unseen, while our circumstances are temporary. Circumstances will come and go, Jesus will be forever. Paul tells us to fix our eyes on what is unseen (Jesus) and not on our seen circumstances. We will feel less overwhelmed when our main focus is Jesus. We are created to have a close relationship with HIm, so naturally our spirit will be lifted when our focus is on Him.

So when circumstances come we need to set our eyes on Jesus, not our circumstances. Our circumstances are temporary, even if this means we leave this earth in death. So one way or another our circumstances will come to an end. However, for those who trust in Jesus, life will continue for all eternity. Jesus is our main focus. Focusing on HIm will lift our spirits. Next time you feel overwhelmed, set your eyes on Jesus. Listen to encouraging Christian music, read your Bible, pray. Take your main focus off your circumstances and place it on Jesus. Try it. I think you’ll be surprised of the outcome.