The Overwhelming

Life

The Under-whelming Life…

is marked by...

• Laziness

• Selfishness

• Fear

The Under-whelming Life…

results in…• Want

Prov 6:10-11

A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest—

Your poverty will come in like a vagabond

And your need like an armed man.

The Under-whelming Life…

results in…

• Want

• Superficiality

• Boring routine

The Overwhelming Life is…

• Isolated (I’m so busy with things I don’t have time for people)

• Crazy busy– Filled with urgency– Often overlapping activities so I’m often tardy– I’m tired with no hope for relief– Like a treadmill—constant motion but gaining

little ground– Strained relationships

The Overwhelming Life…

is marked by…

• Frenzy

• Stress

• Discouragement– Opens me up to attacks from the Enemy

• Depression• Worthlessness• May lead to immorality• Sense of futility

John Piper

“Work is not a curse. Futility is.”

Frenzy is driven by…• Need to do it all• Need to feel accomplished• Desire to have it all• Desire to look like I have it all together• Self-reliant attitude• Pride• My insistence that my needs (really, desires) get

met first—and I’m in charge of this because no one else really has my best interests at heart

Matt 6:33

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Frenzy is driven by…

• Genuine desire to serve

• Inability to say “no”; no delegation

• Poor planning

Stress is a result of…

• Haste

Prov 21:5

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage,

But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

Stress is a result of…

• Haste

• Unmet needs—sometimes desires

• Too many activities, not enough time

• People blocking my goals; I’m pressed for time so I have little patience

• Poor communication (from the lack of patience)

• Competing priorities

Discouragement comes as…

• I fail my deadlines

• I produce shoddy work

• I realize I can’t keep up with demands

• I let others down; I become a “say ‘yes’ and do ‘no’”

• I disappoint myself

Is there a solution?• How can I manage a busy life?• How can I manage a full schedule?• Can I balance school, church, sports, friends,

and family?• Will I ever feel rested?• How can I have a Quiet Time when my life is in

chaos? • Can I sort my priorities in a way that pleased

God?• Can I do it all?