When it was time for me to leave home to attend Toronto Teachers College, I wanted new clothes. After all, I was on my way to the big city! I presented my request to my mother and she told me to go to the closet and bring back the green garbage bag. The ‘bag’ meant lots of old clothes, someone else’s cast-offs. My heart sank. No way would I continue to wear charity garments, not after many years of hand-me-downs.

I dragged the bag to the bedroom and Mom began to pull out each item, one by one. I inwardly groaned. Ugly, tired rags. My visible displeasure in no way stopped her in her mission. She held up a very large, faded wool coat, “I’ll bet this was a really good coat in its day.” It may have been, but it sure isn’t good now!

Mom laid the coat on the bed, unbuttoned the opening and spread it all out, inside facing up. She lifted the worn lining and hiding underneath was beautiful pink-grey wool, looking just like new. What is her point?

“If you take these panels apart, and lay your pattern on like this, I’m sure you could make yourself a beautiful suit.” I was quite annoyed by now, for I knew our sewing machine was long gone, sold to help pay the bills when Mom became the family breadwinner in our home.

“And how can I sew a heavy wool suit without a sewing machine?” I dared ask.

Quietly, yet firmly, she replied, “With a needle and thread.”

I had no idea how to proceed with just a needle and thread, a seemingly insurmountable task. Unfortunately, I had no other options for my wardrobe so I began. I was thankful that the coat’s large size made cutting the fabric simpler.

Reluctantly at first, and then with growing excitement, I created a fully lined and interfaced suit. To my surprise, the hand-made garment became my favourite to wear for the entire year.

When reluctant Moses questioned God about his inability to lead the children of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt, God asked, “What is in your hand?” Moses experienced a dramatic illustration of God’s power when he gave God his staff … from staff to snake and back to staff again.

Many times as a leader I’m tempted to compare myself to others. When I have it all together like Mary, then I’ll take on this task. When I can write like Jerry, I’ll send off my article for publishing.

What incredible blessings I miss when I assume God is limited by my inabilities.

I can almost hear my mother’s voice saying, “It’s not what you have, but what you do with what you have that matters.” So I’m picking up my needle and proving once again that, with God’s help, what I already have may very well be enough for today’s need.

It happens to all of us. Our computer gets very sluggish. Things that worked yesterday aren’t working today. It’s frustrating, until we remember a simple trick. “Shut it down & restart it.” Voila! Like magic, things reorganize and begin to function again as they should.

So goes our lives as well. We’re feeling scattered, frazzled. It’s time to Shut Down & Restart.

I recently heard a commentator say when a company pays millions for a thirty-second ad in a Super Bowl game, what they are buying is … our attention!!

Our attention has become a commodity!

Just as we have a limited amount of money, time, and energy to spend, so we have a limited amount of attention. But messages, tweets, alerts, constantly bombard, all vying for our attention.

In an effort to be a good citizen, to think carefully before speaking, to try to influence with the salt and light of God’s love and truth – I feel responsible to stay engaged with current events.

It’s just that ‘current events’ these days have gotten very divisive, even nasty. There seems to be no space for reasonable back and forth discussion. If we’re not careful, we can start feeling superior, and judgmental of others who differ from us.

The effect among Christians can be that worshipping side by side Sunday morning, serving in a ministry together – can feel a little tenuous at times.

I think this threat to our unity as fellow-Christians is real! I often have to remind myself of the need for God’s perspective.

Lord, teach me your ways, that I may walk in your truth.

Sometimes I want to say with Pilate, “What is truth anyway?!!”

But God knows the whole picture. Only He sees motivations. He sees into secret places. And He knows what’s coming down the road. There is something that is God’s truth, and we only can see it partially.

Yet the psalmist dared to pray,

Lord, teach me your ways, that I may walk in your truth.” And he continued, “Grant me purity my heart, that I may honour You.” (Psalm 86:11)

Those prayers are so relevant these days to my heart.

And so, I need to SHUT DOWN AND RESTART – my plans, my priorities, my emotions.

As we sit at Jesus’ feet in quietness and meditation, He says to us, “I’ve told you (all these things) so you may have peace IN ME. Here on earth, you’ll have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

We are called to be salt and light. We need to not hide away. But we need to know that God sees the bigger picture, and trust Him.

His promise to give Wisdom when we ask, is still current for us every day!

There’s work to be done. Distractions are constant. So let’s go forth, with “the praises of God in our mouths, and a sharp sword in our hands.” (Psalm 149:6)

Perhaps for you, as for me, it’s time to “Shut down, and Restart”, in the secret place with our Lord.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Recently I participated in the Women Together webinar, Fearless Leadership, with Nancy Beach, author of Gifted to Lead. Nancy shared so many practical leadership insights that I could not stop making copious notes. One thing I know about myself however, is that while I am a good note taker…my follow through tends to be a little sketchy.

So I asked myself, what one tip could I bring to my leadership role? The answer emerged quickly for me: “Speak Up”. Nancy noted that often women have the tendency in meetings to hold back, afraid to risk sharing their opinion. Men are the opposite, and will confidently blurt out their ideas, even if they are not fully formulated. This places women leaders at a distinct disadvantage. I thought back to the many, many, many times in my early career that I had allowed intimidation or fear to shut me up. During those years, I essentially robbed my clients, colleagues, church or community by withholding my God-given insights and creative thoughts!

Friends, God has not given us the spirit of fear. In these turbulent and challenging times, we as Christ-following women in leadership must share our voice. We must be bold and dare to believe that – as we live our lives connected to God’s Holy Spirit – our opinions and unique perspectives hold weight and have value. We may not always be “right”, but we can light a spark in the flame of greatness within the organizations, roles and ministries that God has given us.

Let’s be faithful stewards of our leadership gifts. Let’s rebuke the spirit of fear that holds us back. By taking the risk to speak up, we can effectively fulfill our God given mandate in this generation. We won’t always get it ‘right’, but we can greatly reduce the silencing power of fear and experience the fullness of God’s amazing plans for our leadership, our legacies and His glory.

You’re not the only one. Current research shows that 97% of the population is tired most of the time, and 89% are on various forms of anxiety or anti-depressants. A Huffington Post article stated that Canada is the “world’s biggest user of anti-depressants.” Leaders, who are the busiest people in our society, are not exempt from this modern day malaise.

For interest sake, at some of my retreats I put up a whiteboard with two words at the top. CALM and CRAZY. I explain it this way: “How do you feel when your life is calm? When your relationships are in order, finances are up to date, you feel well rested and you have margin in your life?” “Contrary, how do you feel when you’re tired, your house is in chaos, behind in your bill payments, children fighting and there is never enough time, enough sleep or enough money?” Then I ask women to write on the whiteboard how they feel. The words under the CRAZY column are shocking. Depressed, suicidal, lonely, making poor decisions, angry, hopeless and on and on.
Most women reveal that their life is like the CRAZY column.

When women peel back their masks they will admit they feel overwhelmed, tired and lonely. Bad news? This horror of hurry is not going away and not going to get better. Good news? Christian leaders don’t have to live this way we have the powerful and trustworthy word of God to teach us how to live.

1. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28 NIV).

So what does this verse teach us?

Come to me. As leaders we know we have to do this, but do we? Daily, we must lean into Jesus to understand His word so that we can use it and teach it in a way that is relevant to this fast paced generation. It is crucial we take time to listen to God’s voice to help us make good and wise decisions. To learn how to be grateful and content to set an example to people around us. Leaders model a lifestyle to our younger generation.

Before we go anywhere else, we must first hang out with Jesus.

2. Learn from me. Jesus was and still is our greatest example of a leader. Yet nowhere in the Bible have I read about Jesus running from place to place, being overwhelmed and frustrated. His focus was laser beam clear, “to do the will of His Father.” If we truly take Jesus’ yoke upon us we need to ask ourselves the harsh and humbling question: “Am I doing the will of the Father to glorify Him or myself?” Jesus says He is gentle and humble in heart. I receive those words like healing balm to my soul. This gives me grace to be kind to myself in my daily schedule, and to take time to be CALM.

The songwriter Paul Simon wrote these words in the 1970’s:

Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobblestones.
Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.

Looking for fun and feelin’ groovy.

Are we too Christian and mature to kick some cobblestones? When was the last time you and I felt “groovy”? If we want to end up under the CALM column, I think we need to slow down, because we’re moving too fast.

Resource: Antidepressant Use

“Be overwhelmed.” Those were Doug Long’s opening words at a conference for pastors and wives.

He instantly got my attention. Sometimes ministry demands overwhelm me. Sometimes it’s the unchecked items on my to-do list at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s looking ahead to the packed calendar and wondering where I will muster up the energy to not merely survive the upcoming month, but enjoy each moment as a God-given gift. Sometimes, quite honestly, I’m overwhelmed by the expectations I put on myself.
I asked on social media what overwhelms other people, and I received a variety of answers. They ranged from emotional struggles (loneliness) to physical hardships (finances, household chores, illness) to the general response of life. All of life overwhelms.

What about you? When was the last time the magnitude of your responsibilities overwhelmed you? Last week? Last month? Yesterday? And Long says we should embrace this? No, he doesn’t. Stick with me.

UNDERWHELMED BY GOD

The deeper issue is not that I’m overwhelmed by life or ministry demands, but I am underwhelmed by God. When was the last time the goodness of God, the fact that He intervened in my life and saved me, the way He sets my feet on solid ground, makes me lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside quiet waters overwhelmed me? Maybe, just maybe, when we kick the One meant to overwhelm us from His proper place every other circumstance rushes in to fill the void.

Long said that we don’t want to be overwhelmed; we long for things to be comfortable, and we pursue anything that makes life less complicated. He said that we needed to “get over” wanting to feel less overwhelmed and instead embrace it: be overwhelmed, BUT be overwhelmed by the right thing.

When God goes into the background, circumstances take the forefront, but the opposite is true as well. When God stays in the forefront, where He belongs, circumstances remain behind Him. When our hearts are captured by God’s great love right theology drives our actions and influences our emotions.

WHAT NOW?

I asked those same people I polled on social media how they could train their hearts to go to God first in the emotionally charged and overwhelming moments of life. There was a consistent theme in their answers:

• Run to God.
• Practice going to God first to create the habit by not talking about it with others until you have prayed about it.
• Surround yourself with encouraging people.
• Ensure your heart is right before the Lord.
• Surrender to His plans.

They all seem to capture this idea of teaching our stubborn hearts through the discipline of seeking God through our trials to be overwhelmed by His love for us. So yes, Long was right. Be overwhelmed.

(A version of this post first appeared on glorioussurrender.com)