Joyce Meyer - Mental And Emotional Overload (08/23/2019)
Joyce Meyer acknowledges that many face serious struggles—sick family, job loss, chronic pain, trauma—but stresses that multiple types of stress pile up and make everything worse. Drawing from her own recovery after years of abuse and breakdown, she teaches that practical steps like better eating, exercise, sleep, plus dedicated time with God and trusting His peace, help lift us from overload into a life filled with real zeal, passion, and energy.
Recognizing the Weight of Serious Problems
I realize that some of you have probably very, very serious problems. You might have sick loved ones. You might be raising a special needs child. Maybe you've lost your job. Your marriage might be in trouble. Maybe you have physical pain that you have to deal with on a regular basis.
And so when I talk about things like I've talked about this weekend that might seem super simple—like eating better and getting some exercise and making sure you have some kind of a bedtime—it may seem really foolish to those of you that are having such deep problems. But I want to tell you that there's a lot of different kinds of stress. And the more different kinds of stress that you have, the worse your stress is going to be.
And to be honest, this was one of the things that really, really helped me years ago when I was just practically falling apart. I just could not seem to get it through my head that my problem was stress. Because to me, that meant that my life was falling apart or that I couldn't handle life. My mother had dealt with mental illness in her life. And just from being around that, I couldn't seem to face that.
To me, that meant that I was having a mental issue and that I didn't know how to deal with life. And so when I started reading books on stress, I had my eyes opened to the fact that there's such a thing called thermal stress. That means when you go in and out of heat and air conditioning, that puts stress on your body. Now that doesn't mean that you should avoid heat and air conditioning. I'm just trying to show you that many things put stress on our body.
Worry puts stress on your body. There's financial stress. There's relationship stress. There is nutritional stress, which means that you just don't have the right amount of different things in your body. I mean, you can be missing one electrolyte and it just absolutely messes you up mentally.
My Personal Journey Through Stress and Healing
And so I've done a lot of study on nutrition. In my journey of healing, I had to go at it in a lot of different ways. And I continued to work the whole time. I didn't like having a nervous breakdown or anything. But my body was just falling apart. I was just having all kinds of problems.
And a lot of times when you're having a lot of problems that nobody can seem to find an answer for, it is stress. Whether you want to admit it or not, it is stress. And you can do a lot about alleviating stress besides just taking medicine. And I'm not against taking medicine if that's what you need to do.
But in addition to that, you have to find other ways to stop abusing yourself. Otherwise, it's going to require more and more of some kind of chemical to keep you up and going. So when I say eat better and exercise and go to bed at night, you know, a lot of times what people do, and I think you'll agree with me, when they have a problem, instead of sleeping, they stay awake and worry.
Instead of eating better, that's when they turn to junk food and all the stuff that's comfort food. And it makes things even worse. And the last thing they want to do when they're hurting emotionally or mentally is go to the gym and work out.
And so we have a tendency to take whatever is stressing us and then add all these other stressors on top of it. And then all together, it just creates a huge problem. So in sharing with you that you need to make a commitment to have boundaries on your eating, and have boundaries on your bedtime, and drink water and things like that, I'm not in any way trying to make light of your problems and act like I don't understand what you're going through.
From Survival to a Life Full of Zeal and Passion
I'm telling you that I had huge problems. I mean, I was trying to recover from being sexually abused for about 15 years. So I know what you're dealing with if you've got issues. But I'm telling you that I had to apply all of these things in my life to get to the point where I really felt super. I don't want to just feel good enough to barely drag myself through every day.
I have set my heart that I am going to have zeal, enthusiasm, passion, and energy. Come on. Zeal, enthusiasm, passion, and energy. I want to be passionate about life. And I want to be enthusiastic about every single day of my life. Amen.
And so, please believe me when I say that this is a package and you need to participate in all of it. Now, the bigger your problem, the more time you need to spend with God. The less time you think you have to spend with God, the more time you need to spend with God.
And spending time with God may be something that you hear about all the time. But for some reason, it's something that people have a very difficult time actually plugging into their schedule and really being committed to doing it on a regular basis day after day after day after day.
How many of you would say that Satan really fights you hard about your time with God? He can find all kinds of other things for you to do. So, time with God is just what it is. It's just time with God. And I don't think it matters so much what you do with that time as it does that you honor Him by setting aside the time because in doing that you're saying, God, I cannot do life right without you.
Prioritizing Daily Time with God
So, I'm here to let you know that I need you and I need your help today in every single thing that I do. I like to get my day started with time with God. Some people tell me that's hard for them. They're not early morning people. To be honest, even if you start with two minutes, at least before you do anything else, say something to God. Because He is the most important person for you to talk to.
And I prefer that you do it before you ever get out of bed. Lord, help me. Because no matter how much of a holy plan I have for myself, when I put my feet on the floor, I become another creature. And I need you to help me. Study the Word. Don't do it as an obligation. Do it because you're wise.
The Word of God is instructions for us on how we can be happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, peaceful and victorious. So why would we not want to learn how to do that? Time with God is extremely important.
Let's look at Psalm 27 verses 4 through 6. One thing I ask of the Lord. I love this. Most important thing. He's saying, one thing I ask of the Lord, and that will I seek, inquire for, and insistently require. That I might dwell in the house of the Lord in His presence all the days of my life. To behold and gaze upon the beauty, the sweet attractiveness, the delightful loveliness of the Lord. And to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.
For in the day of trouble, He will hide me in His shelter. In the secret place of His tent, He will hide me. He will set me high upon a rock. And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. And in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouts of joy. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
So here's David telling us, Let me tell you how to help yourself in trouble. Seek the Lord. One thing is more important than anything else. That you might dwell in the presence of the Lord and behold His beauty all the days of your life. Then shall my head be lifted up. When? Then, after I've spent time with God, shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me.
Don't go running around asking everybody else what you should do about your problems before you go to God. Go to Him first. Ask God. Get advice from Him. Honor Him. And then if He wants to speak to you through another person, He will. But when we run to people and we leave God out, it offends Him. You know why? Because He is a jealous God. He's jealous of your affections toward Him.
Eliminating Mental and Emotional Overload
I want to talk to you today some about emotional and mental overload. Eliminating mental stress, Proverbs 14:30. A calm and an undisturbed mind and heart. Boy, doesn't that sound good? A calm and an undisturbed mind and heart are the life and the health of the body. But envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness to your bones.
Is it possible that some of you have problems with your bones because you've worried yourself almost to death? A calm and an undisturbed mind and heart will make you feel better. It will keep you healthier. Can I suggest to you that you stop thinking everything to death? Rotating your mind around and around and around it. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? Amen.
Anything other than a calm and an undisturbed mind creates stress. Why? I just can't help it, Joyce. I just get upset. Now see, that's the first thing you gotta stop saying. You gotta stop saying you can't help it. Please understand, there's nothing in the Word that God ever tells us to do or not to do that He won't give us the ability to do.
Wouldn't it be foolish for God to tell us do this or don't do that and then stand back and laugh at us because we couldn't do it? If God says that we should have a calm and an undisturbed mind and heart, then we can have a calm and an undisturbed mind and heart. We can learn how to do it and God will help us do that.
You're never gonna have anything, there's never gonna be any change in any of our lives if we don't believe that we can have those changes in our lives. And we don't tackle all of our problems at one time. The Holy Spirit brings up one thing and we work with the Holy Spirit on that until there's freedom in that area. And I don't know, it might take a year. But the thing that's important is that you're making progress.
That you're not just staying in the same place repeating the same dumb thing over and over and over the whole rest of your life. At least get to the point where you say, I've been there, done that, I didn't enjoy it and I'm not gonna go back and do it again. Right?
Trusting God Instead of Worrying
Well, I can't help it Joyce, I just worry. Well, yeah, actually you can because God says not to worry and to cast our care on Him. And it's all about trust. If we trust God more than we trust ourselves, then we can stop worrying. I said, if we trust God... See, when we worry, we're saying, I'm gonna find a way to solve my problem. I think that I am pretty smart and if I think about this a long time, then I can come up with a way to solve my problem. Is that not what we're doing?
I believe that I can figure out a plan here to get myself out of this mess. Well, what we need to do is say, God, I am not smart enough to run my own life. And in all probability, it's my fault that I'm in this mess to start with. I'm pretty sure I've probably done some dumb thing and don't even know what I did. And so, God, I need your help. I need your wisdom. You show me what to do because I can't do it.
Stress is caused by what's going on inside of us rather than what's going on around us. Well, if I didn't have this problem, and if I didn't have that problem, and if I didn't have that problem, can I tell you something as lovingly as I know how to? Some of you, if you didn't have one problem, you would create one. I mean, just saying, you know.
Now, there's some things that we have and we need to face the fact that we have them and stop praying for things that we already have. Peace. And I talked about this on Thursday night, but I'm going to go over a few of these scriptures because there's about four scriptures in this series of teachings that I feel are extremely important for us to understand.
So in John 14:27, Jesus said, Peace I leave with you. He left it. It's here. My own peace I now give and bequeath unto you. Jesus said this to his disciples pretty much as one of the last things that he said to them, and he was leaving them what he felt was some of the best things that he had to give them. He said, I bequeath to you, or I will you, I leave you my peace.
Not as the world gives do I give to you. Don't let your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed. And do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.
Now, I love this because Jesus is saying, here's my part and here's your part. I'm going to leave you my peace. When you're born again, the Prince of Peace comes to live on the inside of you. Everybody say, I have peace. I have peace.
But now he says, because you have that peace, when these stress factors come against you from the outside, you don't let yourself get upset. Well, I just can't help it. You know, that's a phraseology we need to get out of our language. Stop saying, I can't help it. Don't ever say again, I can't help it. Just say, with God on my side, I can do whatever he asked me to do.
Because as long as we think we can't help it, we're going to stay in this weak-minded situation and just let everything in the world run roughshod all over us. So say, I have peace.
What God Has Already Given Us
Now, another thing that you have is Jesus. Amen. And in Matthew 11:28, he says, Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls. Don't you love that? I feel better just reading it.
Matthew 11:29, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. First of all, he says, come to me and I'll take care of this problem. Well, we love that part. Yes. Make this all go away. I mean, people were so enthusiastic on Thursday night when I said what I was going to teach on. I mean, this place just erupted in joy.
But you know what? They got a little quieter as the evening went on and they found out that I didn't have a magic charm to make all the stress go away. That what was going to happen was they were going to come to Jesus and he was going to teach them something about why they were stressed out and then he was going to help them make a change in their life. Are you with me today? Yes. Yes.
That would then prevent the devil from getting back in. If God does nothing but rescue us and we never learn anything, we will just keep repeating the same stuff over and over just with a different name on it. And you know that from your own kids. If you just rescue them all the time, they never learn anything.
So God's not in the rescue business. He is in the redemption business. But he teaches us. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to be our constant companion in life. Jesus told his disciples, I'm going to go away, but you're actually going to be better off because I'm going to send you the comforter.
And the reason why Jesus said that is because he can only be in one place at one time, but the Holy Spirit can work in and with every single one of us every day of our lives, no matter where we're at or what we're doing. He can be with every one of us intimately and personally. And he is the teacher. He doesn't just rescue us. He teaches us how to live life differently so we can have the life that Jesus died for us to have.
And people who tell you that if you serve God, all your problems will go away, they are just flat out lying. Amen? So you come to him, and he teaches you. So everybody say, I have peace. Say, I have Jesus. I have peace. I have peace.
2 Timothy 1:7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, timidity, cowardice, craving, and cringing, and fawning fear, but he has given us a spirit of power, and of love, and a calm, and a well-balanced mind, and discipline, and self-control.
So, let's get it. God has given us a calm. The mind of Christ is a calm and a well-balanced mind. The mind of the flesh is the one that gets all upset. And we have a spirit of discipline and self-control. So, everybody say, I am disciplined. I am disciplined. And I have self-control. I have self-control. And I have peace. I have peace. I have peace. And I have wisdom. I have wisdom. And I have Jesus. I have Jesus.
Now, let me ask you, with all of that, how could your life be messed up? So, we need to start using all these wonderful things that God has given us.
Hope as the Anchor for Our Souls
You know, hope, to me, is a real stabilizer in our life, mentally and emotionally. Matter of fact, the Bible says that hope is the anchor of our souls. And your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. And that's the parts of us that get upset. Actually, you have peace in your spirit. You have wisdom in your spirit. But it's our soul that gets upset.
So, what we need to do is let what's deep in us rise to the surface when these stressors are coming against us from outside. Hope is the anchor of our souls. And hope really is just a positive attitude that says, Jesus is going to take care of this. I believe something good is going to happen. I believe God's going to work good out of this.
Satan wants us to be hopeless. And actually, the Bible word for hopelessness is despair. And the word despair, if you define it, means that we are without a way. There's no way. To be utterly without a way. To be quiet at a loss and without resources. To have no hope or to give up.
But you can have hope on purpose if you want to. You don't have to wait to feel hopeful. Talk yourself off the ledge and remind yourself of what you have in Christ. God is on my side. He's working on this situation. I have hope. Makes the devil really mad when you have hope.
Actually, the word of God says, If you will be a prisoner of hope that God will give you double anything that you lost and gave up. He will restore double your former prosperity. Anything that you've lost, God will restore it double if you will be a prisoner of hope.
Well, prisoners are locked up in something they can't get out of. So that means that you need to be locked up with hope. And no matter how bad things get, you keep saying, Something good is going to happen to me. And if you do that, it will be a great stress reliever. God's going to work this out.
We've got to be careful how we talk. And that's really not part of this message. But I've got to just say that because you can talk yourself into a full-blown fit. And so can I. I shared with you yesterday that when Jesus was on the cross, He spent one minute talking. And five hours and 58 minutes being quiet. Can you imagine some of the stuff that we might have said if we would have been on that cross? Come on.
We better be glad He sent Jesus instead of one of us. Am I not right? The more you talk, the more you get yourself upset. You don't know... How many of you believe that? The more you talk, the more you get yourself upset. So just say hopeful things. God's going to work it out. Good's going to come out of it. I refuse to stop hoping.
Simplifying Life to Reduce Stress
2 Corinthians 4:8. We are hedged in and pressed on every side. Troubled and oppressed in every way. But not cramped or crushed. We suffer embarrassments and we're perplexed and unable to find a way out. But we are not driven to despair. So Paul had serious stressors in his life. And yet he said, we're still full of hope.
When they were in jail at midnight, they were still singing. And it was such a witness to the jailer that he ended up getting saved. Do you know when you maintain peace and joy in the midst of really difficult situations in your life, it is a witness to other people. I think it's one of the greatest witnesses that we have to other people if we can remain stable in difficult times.
The Message Bible of 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. And all you need to remember is that God will never let you down. He'll never let you be pushed past your limit. He'll always be there to help you come through it.
Everybody say, Something good is going to happen to me. Something good is going to happen to me. Now I want to talk to you for a few minutes about simplifying your life because that will really eliminate a lot of stress. The world has gotten pretty complicated, hasn't it? Life has become very complicated, but we can change our approach to life.
So, ten ways to simplify your life. Number one, get rid of clutter. That just means have some boundaries, have some borders on how much junk you're going to keep in your house. If you're not using it, lose it. Amen?
Somebody suggested, put all your hangers a certain way in the closet. And when you wear something, turn the hanger back around the other way. And after a year, all the hangers that you've never touched, you need to send those things off to somebody else that doesn't have much.
You say, well, what does my clutter, what does me keeping stuff have to do with stress? It has a lot to do with stress because if your surroundings look confused and stressful, it's going to make you feel stressful. God is not the author of confusion.
I said last night that we started looking around the little place where we're staying here. And it's amazing, even in your house, how many things have borders. Picture frames have borders. Books have margins and borders. Every piece of property has a border or a boundary. A fence is a boundary. The baseboard that goes around the bottom of the floor is a border.
And all those things, even though society doesn't realize what they're doing, they're what makes everything look neat and tidy. They keep everything from running together and just being all confused all the time. Don't confuse yourself by bringing so much stuff in your house that you can't find anything when you want it. Come on.
Some of you are still paying for stuff. You're still making payments on stuff that you don't even know where it's at now. Amen? You don't even know what you did with it. You bought it because it was on sale. Good sale. This is a good deal. Yep, I put it on the credit card. Good deal. Can't pass this up. You'll probably even forget you own it, and then two years from now, when you need one, you go out and buy another one.
1 Corinthians 14:33. God is not a God of confusion and disorder, but of peace and order. And if you can't manage to part with your stuff, hire somebody to come in and get rid of some of it for you.
Trusting God to Provide What You Need
Number two, when you want or need something, ask God to provide it. And forget about it. Ask God to provide it and believe that if it's right for you, that he'll give it to you at the right time in the right way. Don't stress yourself out trying to make things happen in your life that only God can make happen.
Let's just say you really want to be the worship leader at your church. Well, ask God. God, if that's the right position for me, then I pray that you'll help me get it. If you need to apply for it, apply for it. But then don't get mad because somebody else gets it, and don't be worrying all the time about who's going to get it. Trust God.
It is amazing how much more peace we can have if we just trust God. And I don't have time to go to these scriptures, because I've still got a lot of stuff that I want to share with you before we're done today. But James 4:1 and 2 have been very life-changing scriptures for me.
And James 4:1 starts out and says, What leads to strife and feuds and conflicts and quarrels? They arise from all the stuff that you want. And then verse 2 says, You're jealous and you covet what other people have, and your desires go unfulfilled, and you even begin to hate people who have what you want. You burn with envy and anger. You're not able to get the stuff you want. So you fight and you war.
Big answer here. You do not have because you do not ask. Boy, I love that. You don't have to try to make things happen in your life. You can pray and ask God, and if it's right for you, God will open the right door at the right time.
And we can even go so far as to thank God if He doesn't give us what we want by just believing that He knows better than we do what's going to be right for us. I believe there's people here today that you're just all stressed out over something that you want, and you've been trying to make it happen, and it's not happening. Just ask God, and then trust Him that if it's right, He'll give it to you.
One thing's for sure, if God can't do it, you can't do it. Amen? I tell God that sometimes. I'm not messing with that God, because if you can't do it, I sure can't do it. I'm going to stay in peace and watch God work.
Number three, be yourself and stop trying to impress people. Well, that's a stress reliever. My gosh, I'd be dead from stress if I was up here as much as I am feeling like I had to impress everybody. You can pretty well tell with me, what you see is what you get. I mean, this is just me. I'm the same way pretty much everywhere I'm at. Except I don't talk quite as loud when I'm out in public.
But that's one of the best compliments that people give me who know me personally. Joyce is just Joyce. We don't have to try to impress each other. We don't have to pretend for other people. We don't have to compare ourselves with other people. We don't have to compete with other people. Just be yourself.
Number four, don't be easily offended and be quick to forgive. Offense, anger, bitterness, and unforgiveness are some of the most stressful things that you can have in your heart.
Number five, when you sin, admit it. Receive forgiveness. Remember, there's no condemnation. And get on with life. Don't let the mistakes of yesterday ruin today.
Number six, give people mercy instead of trying to get revenge. It kind of goes like this. Well, you don't deserve it, but I'm just going to let that go. That's your thought process. I really shouldn't talk to you at all after what you did, but you know what? I'm just going to let that go and give you mercy because I need mercy myself.
Number seven, when you need help, ask for it. Can you help me? Number eight, make decisions. Stop being so indecisive about everything. If you're really indecisive, you can get stressed out trying to figure out what you want to choose off the menu in a restaurant.
Number nine, don't be overcommitted. Be committed, but not overcommitted. And here's the thing to do. Before you make any commitment, think all the way through what it's going to take for you to do what you said you would do.
I've had to learn to do that with speaking opportunities that come along. Different opportunities to do different things. And I do say yes to things, but I've learned if I don't think through the process, it's too easy to say, oh yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, yeah, amen, count me in. And then we're like, my life is driving me crazy.
You know, when you hear yourself complaining all the time about your life, that is an indicator that you need to make a change. Amen? I said that you need to make a change. That's an indicator that you need to make a change. That means you need to make a change. Oh yeah, I've got to say it several times. You, you, you, you, you, you, not somebody else. That means you. I, we need to make the changes.
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn... of me.
Simplifying Relationships and Holding Your Peace
Seven ways to simplify relationships. Number one, don't try to be everybody's best friend. They say, whoever they are, the experts, that one person can only manage properly three really good close friends. So when you try to be everybody's best friend, you usually end up not being a very good friend to anybody.
Now we can have a lot of people we love, a lot of people we appreciate, a lot of people that are acquaintances, but close relationships take time and they take effort. Number two, don't expect people to never hurt or disappoint you. Because they will.
Number three, don't get overly involved in other people's business. Boy, some of you are all stressed out right now over somebody else's problem. Don't you have enough of your own? Don't get, I love the Bible word, entangled in the affairs of this life.
Number four, don't give advice that people don't want. Number five, compliment people 100 times more than you criticize them. Number six, say I'm sorry. Go ahead, practice. Now let's say it with a look on our face like we mean it. I'm sorry.
Number seven, always believe the best of every person in every situation. Amen? Alright, now just a few more things. Hold your peace. Hold on to it. We've kind of talked about that, like talking yourself off the ledge. You know, peace is ours and we need to hold on to it. We need to keep it.
But let me just quickly go through some scriptures. Exodus 14:14. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. Wow. Job 13:5. Oh, that you would all together hold your peace. Then you would evidence your wisdom and you might pass for wise men.
Isaiah 26:3. You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace, whose mind, both its inclination and its character, has stayed on you. Worry is revolving your mind around and around and around the problem. But when you consider what God can do in your situation, then you can stay in peace.
And Philippians 4:4 through 7, basically tell us to be joyful and peaceful. Rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. Be anxious for nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace that passes understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
So, joy and enjoyment reduce stress. Laugh. Laugh away the stress. Laugh yourself into some good health. You say, well, there's nothing funny going on in my life. Yeah, well, you're really pretty funny yourself if you just figure it out.
Jesus said, John 16:33, I've told you these things that in me you may have perfect peace and confidence. In the world you will have trials and distress and frustration, but cheer up. I have overcome the world.
Guess what? Scientists have discovered that happiness reduces stress. Science has figured that out. They have a name for it. It's called positive psychology. Well, guess what? God knew that before they did. Honestly, I get so tickled with all the experts and all the things they know.
Yeah, scientists now tell us that one of the top five ways to relieve stress is to do something you enjoy. Hello, I'm not a scientist and I told you that yesterday morning. A happy heart is good medicine. You know, joy can come from just doing something that you enjoy. Amen?
Planning Joy and Rest in Daily Life
I made a plan for me when I get home. For the next couple of days. You want to know what I'm going to do for the next couple of days? Let me see if I can figure out where I put it. Okay. Today, I'm going to leave here. I'm going to take some coffee with me that somebody's making me in a few minutes. I'm going to enjoy some of my coworkers on the plane going home. Yes, I'm going to enjoy them.
I've already decided I'm going to enjoy them. It's not going to be a time of correction or talking about what was wrong with the conference. You can make your mind up the next time you go around your relatives, even ones you don't like, that you are going to enjoy them. The Bible says that a woman is to enjoy her husband. Amen.
And I've already decided that I'm going to laugh every chance I get going home. So everybody that's going to be on the plane with me, get ready to be funny. I'm going to get to St. Louis and eat at my favorite restaurant. They've got a little outside area, I'm going to sit outside and I'm going to enjoy it.
Thinking about this is making me preach better today. It does, honestly. You don't want to muzzle the ox when it's treading out the corn. When you're working, you need to think about something that you're going to do to enjoy yourself.
Well, I just don't have time to enjoy myself. All I do is work, work, work, and I don't have any money to enjoy myself. Oh, stop being a martyr. You know, some of us just don't do anything to make ourselves happy because if we did, we wouldn't have anything to complain about. Whoa, this is good. I'm going to say my piece and leave town.
Take a break. Do something you like. Not only that, I've already got my plan for tomorrow. You want to hear that one too? Yes! I'm going to get up in the morning like I do every morning. I'm going to spend my time with God. Then I'm going to walk and pray. Then I'm going to do some packing I need to do. Then I may do a little editing that I still need to finish on a book. Then I'm going to go out to eat with Dave and I'm going to eat pasta. Yes! It's my once a week pasta. That's my boundary. And it's my dessert day. Wow! What a day I'm going to have.
And you know what? By the middle of next week, I will have traveled back somewhere else and I'm going to be doing a television show and interview for 45 minutes and teaching for 45 minutes. And that's okay. Because if I take time to do some things that I enjoy between these things, then I don't fall apart and I'm not overloaded. Amen?
And whatever it is that you're dealing with in life, do yourself a favor and work in some things for you that you enjoy. Whether it's a five minute little mini vacation or whether it's getting away from everything for two whole days. You cannot survive if you do nothing but work, work, worry, worry, work, work, get no sleep, eat junk all the time, worry, worry, fret, fret, try to impress people.
We don't have to live all stressed out and overloaded. Jesus said, come unto me, all ye that are weary and overburdened and overloaded, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. Come on, give God a praise.