Personal Development on Overwhelmed

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Gracious God, thank you for the

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Gracious God, thank you for the responsibilities you have entrusted to us and for all you have given us to fulfill them. Sometimes, Lord, we can feel overwhelmed by the challenges. A part of us wants ...

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Preventing Pastoral Burnout: How to Cope with Overwhelm

Author

Alan Briggs

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A Leadership Coach’s Perspective I make it a habit to study what’s happening in churches across the country. I get the honor of coaching some incredible pastors, so I need to stay fresh. Any time I’m...

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Lysa TerKeurst

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I can face things that are out of my control and not act out of control.

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T. S. Eliot

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If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

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The Monk and the Cup of Tea

Author

Ruth Haley Barton

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The story is told of a learned professor who went to visit an old monk who was famous for his wisdom. The monk graciously welcomed him into his temple and offered him a seat on a cushion. No sooner ha...

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Author

George Herbert

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1, Romans 8:22, Job 14:1, James 1:2-4, Psalm 130:1-2

I cried when I was born and every day shows why.

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Overwhelmed by Vision

Author

Annie Dillard

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On the effect of seeing for the first time after Cataract Surgery: The mental effort involved in these reasonings proves overwhelming for many patients. It oppresses them to realize, if they ever do ...

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Holding on to the Extreme

Author

Linda Evans Shepherd

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Scripture

Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Luke 12:15, Matthew 16:26

Have you ever seen an episode of the A&E TV show Hoarders? It’s a show about perfectly normal-looking people who live in perfectly normal-looking houses who become overwhelmed by their possessions...

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Merciful God, we turn away from the

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Merciful God, we turn away from the pains and cries of our world. Overwhelmed by its brokenness, we ignore the call to engage and love those who are hurting. Father, forgive us, strengthen us, and hel...

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What We Ignore & What We Pay Attention To

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Tim Wu

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We ignore so much stuff for a simple reason: if we didn’t, we’d quickly be overwhelmed, our brains flooded until they seized up. Depending on the kind of information, it takes our brains some amount o...

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COVID and Learning to Wait Well

Author

Ashley Hales

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Scripture

Psalm 13:1-2, Isaiah 26:3, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 12:11, Romans 8:24-25

With the global coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, life stopped. Overwhelmed by the threat of a disease we couldn’t stop and for which we didn’t have the hospital capacity, everyone moved work and s...

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Mammon: The Worst Species of Idol

Author

Andrew Carnegie

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Scripture

Matthew 6:24, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, Colossians 3:5, Psalm 115:4-8, Matthew 13:22, Mark 8:36, Ecclesiastes 2:11

Andrew Carnegie rose to become among the world's richest individuals through his steel empire. In the midst of this acquisition of massive wealth at just thirty-three years old—Carnegie conducted ...

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Waiting: Leaning into the Pain

Author

Ashley Hales

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Scripture

Exodus 16:2–4, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:25–26, Matthew 4:2–4, Romans 8:24–25, Psalm 130:5–6

With the global coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, life stopped. Overwhelmed by the threat of a disease we couldn’t stop and for which we didn’t have the hospital capacity, everyone moved work and s...

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Father: Thank You for always being

Author

Richard Herman

Scripture

Psalm 34:14, Luke 15:20, Hebrews 4:14, Romans 6:4, Acts 1:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Psalm 25:4-5, Matthew 11:28-30, Isaiah 41:10, John 14:13, James 1:5, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Habakkuk 3:2, Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 28:19-20

Father: Thank You for always being ready to welcome us and listen to us. Thank You for sending Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Savior: born like us, experiencing all that we experience yet sinless, who d...

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Our loving Father, You’ve loved us from

Author

Richard Herman

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Scripture

1 Peter 5:7, John 14:27, Philippians 4:19, Psalm 34:17-18, Matthew 11:28-30

Our loving Father, You’ve loved us from everlasting to everlasting. While looking into the future we see only mist and shadows—you see it all with clarity and precision. That which we can only guess a...

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Pastoral Prayer based on Jesus Calming the Storm

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

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Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25

When the waves rise high above our ability to see your face… Still my soul, Lord Jesus, Calm the storm in me When the howling wind and the pouring rain drown out the sound of your voice… Still my sou...

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Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t

Author

Richard Herman

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Isaiah 40:31, Psalm 27:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23, John 11:25-26, Hebrews 13:3

Lord—we’re so anxious we can’t wait! Some of us can’t wait for Christmas to come, while (honestly) some others of us can’t wait for it to be over. We’re not proud of it—but that’s just the way it is ...

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The Wake-Up Call

Author

Marva J. Dawn

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For most of us, it’s a personal experience of poverty that helps us transcend our often narrow experience of the world. In this excerpt from theologian Marva J. Dawn, the former Regent College profess...

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Waiting & the Coronavirus Pandemic

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Ashley Hales

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With the global coronavirus pandemic in spring 2020, life stopped. Overwhelmed by the threat of a disease we couldn’t stop and for which we didn’t have the hospital capacity, everyone moved work and s...

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Are There Only Two Options?

Author

Christopher West

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Desire—eros, or erotic desire, to be more specific—kicked in pretty early in my life. I was often overwhelmed by a gnawing hunger and thirst I didn’t know how to handle. God bless my parents and my Ca...

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Does God Really Like Me?

Author

Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw

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Scripture

Romans 10:9-13, John 17:18-23, Romans 15:7, 1 Timothy 1:15, Ephesians 1:3-6, Colossians 1:21-22, Micah 7:19

I don’t know what I did wrong. But he had that “calmer than calm” look that hid a rage inside. I picked up the phone and saw her name. Not now. I can’t handle her right now. I scanned the room, lookin...

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The Changing Landscape of Ministry

Author

Tod E. Bolsinger

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Scripture

Psalm 126:5-6, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, 2 Timothy 4:5, Romans 12:2, Joshua 1:9, Isaiah 55:10-11, Galatians 6:9

In this short excerpt, professor and pastor Tod Bolsinger describes how the changing world of ministry (in the West) has led some pastors to simply give up trying: About twelve years ago, I heard a ...

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Author

Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill

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Almost all of us feel torn by the things we want to do, by the demands placed on us, by the many responsibilities we have.

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Overextending Ourselves & The Tyranny of the Urgent

Author

Stephen W. Smith

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Scripture

Psalm 55:22, Isaiah 26:3, Jeremiah 17:5-8, Philippians 4:6-7

In his highly book, Inside Job , Stephen W. Smith shares the importance of finding balance, even as life seems to pull us in different directions: Overextending yourself is stretching your physic...

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Author

Anne Wilson Schaef

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When we insist on doing too much, we are not only inflicting the damage of this choice on ourselves, we are sharing this damage with those we love the most.

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Author

Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone

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Whether we are easily swamped or nearly waterproof, there’s one wiring challenge we all face: Bad is stronger than good. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt elaborates: “Responses to threats and unpleasantnes...

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Lord, we come here with lots of things

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Lord, we come here with lots of things on our minds, but now we turn our focus to you. Help us to put aside our schedules and "to do" lists, and replace our worry with peace. Guide us as...

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Author

Molière

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The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.

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Author

Helen Keller

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Scripture

Isaiah 41:10, Revelation 21:4, Psalm 34:19, 1 Peter 5:10, Romans 8:18

All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.

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Stepping Over our Wounds

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Genesis 4:6-7, 1 Samuel 1:6-8, 18 , Luke 15:28-32, Jonah 4:1-4 , Ephesians 4:31-32, Psalm 55:22

Sometimes we have to “step over” our anger, our jealousy, or our feelings of rejection and move on. The temptation is to get stuck in our negative emotions, poking around in them as if we belong there...

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