It’s so incredibly hard to follow the Lord. 

• By candidasullivan
• May 13, 2024
• No Comments

The moment I decide to follow the Lord, the enemy shows up with various ways to distract and entice me to do something else. So, he overloads me with ideas and other things I should be doing. When I rush after one of his ideas, distress shows up instead of what God put on my heart to do.

I can’t follow the enemy, my ideas, and the Lord. I have to choose who gets my attention. Since I only have so much time daily, I must prioritize my time and attention. 

The truth is that I can’t do it all. When I focus on one thing, I lose sight of something else. If I allow it, the enemy will make me so busy that I don’t have time to pray or even have a cup of coffee on the porch. He wants to keep me in a cycle of hurry, so I don’t take the time to check in with the Lord.

Feeling completely overwhelmed is not from the Lord. While I know this truth deep down, I still struggle with it. I need help with trying to balance it all. 

Right now, the battle to stay in my chair and write for one hour is hard. I have laundry to do, I want to buy ferns for my porch, and I need to sweep, mop, and clean my house. The timer feels as if it is barely moving today. I’m ready to check the writing box off my to-do list and move on. 

And herein lies my problem. 

It feels much longer when I check my timer and try to rush through my writing time. My mind is somewhere else, desiring to do something else. God can’t use me in this state. 

God doesn’t want the leftovers of my thoughts or attention. To follow God, I must block out the distractions and give Him my full attention. Otherwise, I may spend my time doing fifteen things when God only wants me to do one of two. 

Have you heard the story about a guy who explained the best way to cut down a tree? He said if he had an hour to complete the task, he would spend the first 50 minutes sharpening the axe. 

I see how this could benefit me in my life. To make the most of my day, I should give God the first part and ask Him how I should spend the rest of my day. If other ideas or requests for my time emerge, I should consult with God instead of diving head first into the agenda someone else created for me. 

I did this, sweet friend. Years ago, I was so busy trying to do it all that I burned myself out and caused myself stress and health problems. And I ended up resenting the work and taking a break from it all. 

I don’t want to do that this time. And yet, I have felt those same feelings of stress and the pain it causes. 

The enemy has all kinds of tactics and strategies to use on me. If trying to defeat me with thoughts of not being enough to do this work doesn’t work, he overwhelms me with too much to do. 

God will tell me exactly what to do, and it will be so simple that I stumble over it. I will probably dismiss it because it will seem too easy to be effective, so I continue on my breakneck pace and get overwhelmed when I don’t make any progress. 

So, when I feel stressed or overwhelmed, and the workload seems too hard, I should run to the Lord. I should spend time with Him, clarifying what I must do and then figuring out the best time and way to do it. 

God knows what I’m capable of. Sometimes, He might push me a little to show me what’s possible. But He will be there to help me. When I let God lead me, I know He will show me how to make my impossible things possible. 

 When I started writing today, I was in tears. I felt overwhelmed. Now, after realizing my stress is just an attack from the enemy, I feel peaceful. God can show me how to do everything, and love the process. Sometimes, it’s just about getting still when we want to move and listening to God in the stillness.