Out of focus: Why you may be overwhelmed

One morning a couple of weeks ago, while spending time with the Lord – prayer, worshipping, reading my bible – you know the jig, a bible verse dropped in my mind. This thought was very unrelated to what I read in my bible that morning, so I tried to just move on from the thought, but I could not shake it off. I decided to dwell on it a bit, but before I knew it, I was preaching to myself and pacing across the room much longer than the ‘a bit’ I planned.

Before I get to the bible verse, let me address what I believe the Lord was telling me. And now I am sharing because it may be helpful to someone else.

In running my business, I do so many things. I put so many things on my plate, which makes it overwhelming sometimes. I do the product designs, marketing, ads (when I run those), finding customers, blogging (like I am doing now), social media, and so much more. What I started as a hobby, as something I love, became something that was getting on my nerves. I am a big picture kinda guy; I am not all about the details. I prefer to cast visions, strategize, and do high-level things, so having to do all these other things cramps my style. To make it worse, many times I feel the results do not match up to the efforts. Then to combat the undesired results, I try to do even more.

Does this sound familiar? We currently live in a world that celebrates the hustle. People believe having a jampacked calendar gives their life meaning. It provides a false sense of progress and fulfillment. Many may even subscribe for a 30-hour day if they have the chance. We just love our busyness. Then this busyness eventually overwhelms us and causes all kinds of physical and mental problems. We have taken words like rest and thrive out of our vocabulary and replaced them with hustle.

I believe the Lord was saying when we fill our lives with activities and overwork ourselves, we get out of focus. While we are to put in the work, our focus should be on Him. Hustling and striving means we are trying to get things done in our own strength instead of relying on Him to bless our work. It means we are OUT OF FOCUS. This phrase accompanied the bible verse – For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:30). And it was the first time I got this interpretation to this bible verse. If you know what a yoke or burden is, they are not supposed to be easy or light, but He is saying if I have given you work, you will have to do the work, but it would come with grace and favor. It means you should trust Him even when things don’t go our way or happen according to our timeline. Two verses above this verse say, ‘come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).’ Meaning rest should be returned into our vocabulary and be practiced. God, your creator, designed you to rest.

Note that this piece does not encourage having a tepid work ethic; it encourages living a life with the right focus. It is encouraging a life that embraces rest. It is also not saying that there will be no trials because His grace and favor are on your work. Instead, it is saying that you should depend on Him, not your own abilities when those trials come. It is time to get back into focus. Hope this blessed you.