Something to Help When You Feel Overwhelmed {and free printable!}

I sat across the table from her with wide eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder, How did she do it all?

As we talked it became clear, she was not weary or overwhelmed. In fact, the passion with which she spoke showed proof of a spirt energized not depleted – which seemed so absolutely impossible. So, in my one moment to ask this amazing Godly woman anything I wanted to ask all I could spit out was, “When do you sleep?”

With her answer she drew the picture of a wheel. At the center of the wheel she positioned the Holy Spirit. Everything she did came off of the Holy Spirit like a spoke shoots off of a wheel.

She lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit strengthened her, equipped her, prepared her and provided for her.

let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

We’re designed to run with direction.

This verse in Hebrews 12 holds a precious key to what we do with our lives. We’re not created to merely run. We’re designed to run with direction. There’s a race marked out for you. And one marked out for me.

I think we sometimes skip the part about that specific race. We combine run with endurance and hit the road. We run and we run and we pant and eventually pass out, overwhelmed yet unfulfilled.

Could it be we’re carrying a load that doesn’t belong to us?

We have options – lots of options – of how we fill our time. To help me determine the things included in my race each day, and also identify the things I need to throw off so I don’t grow overwhelmed, I made a Holy Spirit wheel of my own (see picture below).

I know I can do all things through Christ. I also know I can do nothing apart from Him. So I take my wheel with the Holy Spirit at the center, then I write down all of the things that flood my mind: demands, expectations, things to do.

And as I write, I pray.

Lord, is this Your assignment for me? Have I taken on something You did not bring to me? Or is this Your plan? Let me run with endurance if it is. Give me wisdom to release it, if it is not. 

As God leads me to His assignments, I write them on the lines of my Spirit wheel, and I use it as a daily reminder: God will provide all the time I need to do His work. To run my race.

Click here for a free Spirit wheel printable of your own. I pray you are blessed and empowered to run the race God has marked out for you.