Do you ever feel like the world is just too big? Like your life has gotten so full and busy that you just can’t take another stressful moment or add one more responsibility to your load without breaking? The best description for the modern Christian girl these days is “tired.” We’re so busy with our schedules and the hard things we’re going through and keeping up with our families and friends and hobbies that we get overloaded.

We’ve each got a bucket that only holds a certain amount of water, but even when the bucket gets full, we’re still trying to add more more. It makes us feel like just breathing is a chore and trying to be everything that we want to be for all our people would just break our bucket.

How do you go about making more room in your bucket? What do you do when the world just feels too big?

1. Acknowledge God’s perspective. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but we have a great, big God. He’s not contained by time, He’s not contained by space, He’s not contained by deadlines, He’s not contained by our ability, He’s not contained by the limits we set for ourselves, and He’s definitely not contained by the big-ness our world puts us through. He’s above and beyond and fully capable of handling the craziness that we put ourselves through and the hard things we experience in life. When faced with the most overwhelming, “big” circumstances a person could face, Job said of God, “I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” Job understood that even though he really did not understand how to deal with the big, hard things that were destroying his life, He had a God who did. He had a God who could anything and everything without human limits. Job chose to acknowledge that his God was much bigger than the events that were happening to him.
2. Try for bite-size pieces. Do you know how you eat an elephant? One bite at a time… that is if we were going to eat an elephant (which I don’t know why we would). The point is that big, overwhelming, impossible things can be broken down into manageable choices. When we’re facing the giant big-ness of our lives (the combination of our schedule, our people, our circumstances, our responsibilities), it’s so easy to feel beyond overwhelmed. But when we break down what needs to happen and how to handle what’s going on in our lives into “bites,” we’re able to better understand what we need to do. Got a big choice to make that feels impossible? Try breaking it into smaller choices or making a list that will help you make the choice. What’s life-giving about the choice? What’s life-stealing about the choice? Going through a hard time? How are your week and your days being spent? If you categorize your time into half hour segments, what time can you find for helping you just deal? Where could you be intentional about asking for help and scheduling time for that help? Fear and anxiety take over where our eyes look further than our next step.
3. Create a breathing margin. Sometimes, we get really weary and weak when we’re trying to do more than God intends for us to do. We deny the grace so freely given to us by filling up our time and thoughts with the pursuit of self-achieved perfection. God doesn’t really want for His daughters to be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect daughter, the perfect career woman, the perfect exerciser, the perfect crafter, the perfect homekeeper, the perfect daughter, the perfect sister, the perfect friend, the perfect student, the perfect sportswoman, the perfect leader, and the perfect Christian all at the same time. Yet… isn’t that we find ourselves trying to be? The more we try to be perfect (which only Christ could be), the more we find ourselves lost in disappointment. By giving ourselves permission to breathe and make mistakes, we’re able to make the big-ness we’re facing seem just a little more manageable. By giving ourselves permission to breathe, we’re allowing ourselves the room to accept that “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,” but that means that I have to give Him room to work in my life and heart. I’m not enough if I don’t make room for Him that IS enough to do what only He can do, I’ll stay lost in the bigness of my circumstances.

So, maybe the world is big. Maybe our life is too much to handle on our own. Maybe we face circumstances and schedules that are beyond our abilities. But by acknowledging God’s ability, prioritizing our time and energy, and finding room to rest in His ability (instead of our own), we’re able to make the world feel less… well, big.

Let’s face the big-ness through His power, ladies.