A Letter to the Overwhelmed Overachiever and Perfectionist

I'm sure everyone has a million things going on in their life right now. If you're a student, you're juggling classes and sleep, trying to have a halfway decent social life, and maybe even working a job or two. If you're out in the "real world," the possibilities are endless. The reality is that we love to cram our lives full of work and activities, whether necessary or not.

The world's solution to this overwhelming pile of due dates and responsibilities is to "Keep Calm and Carry On." Sounds nice, doesn't it? In truth, if we follow this mantra, we will continue being overwhelmed, worried, and unable to solve our problems. 

As I've been studying this past week, I kept coming across these verses in Matthew, and their meaning finally became clear to me in a new way. 

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.    
- Matthew 11:28-30

                                                                                                         
We love saying, "I did this." We love being able to do everything, have it all together, and be practically perfect in every way. However, every single person who loves this also knows that deep inside, we don't have it all together. We're imperfect human beings who need help carrying our load.

Do you remember your salvation story? Everyone is different, but we all have something in common. God brought us to the end of ourselves, showed us that He is our source of strength and hope, and gave us an overwhelming peace and desire to follow Him. Sometimes, we get so caught up in life that we forget to remember where we've been. What would happen if every time we were worried or overwhelmed, we looked back and remembered the love and power of Christ?

Understanding the historical context of these verses in Matthew will help us discover the perfect analogy that Christ is trying to convey. A yoke was used for oxen when they were plowing a field. It helped distribute the weight so that they worked together and could accomplish the goal more efficiently.

These verses explain what it is like to be truly saved. He has given us rest, but it doesn't stop there. He wants us to follow Him, but He never expects us to do it alone. Christ wants us to share our burdens with Him and learn from His example. He can make our burdens light.

Where is your heart at? Are you clinging to the desire to have everything together? To have everything in your control? These desires can convince us that we need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and move on rather than clinging to Christ, whose love and strength conquer all of our problems.

The song "Just As I Am" is a familiar hymn, but most hymn books don't print the last verse:

Just as I am! Thou love unknown 

Has broken ev'ry barrier down; 

Now, to be thine, yea, thine alone, 

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.  

Stop worrying, friend. God wants to help us each step of the way. Seek to put Him first in your life, rather than running to yourself. His love conquers all of our fears.