What to Do When You’re Overwhelmed (The Intimacy Strategy)

Do you go to God when you’re overwhelmed? Or, do you try to solve your problems on your own? Below, you’ll find a strategy to connect with Jesus when things get difficult.

There are times when we aren’t sure if we’re being tempted or not. We can’t connect with God to find out what he’s thinking because of our bad feelings (like frustration or anxiety). The answer is to imagine ourselves coming into the arms of Father God anyway.

Here, we remember that God cares about every detail of our life. He knows why we feel this way. But, not even this can stop his perfect destiny for us as Christians. Not the devil, not the past, not the future or even our sin or confusion can cut us off from God.

Have you ever stopped to think that your normal frame of mind usually filters out the fantastic thoughts that God is constantly thinking about you? Here’s what God’s thinking right now: everything is going perfectly according to his plan for you to end up in a rich mansion in the perfect society with fun stuff to do all the time. That’s heaven.

There’s never a moment when you can’t stop and let this sink in. God will eventually get rid of everything bad, 100% guaranteed. Everything good that we do is a miracle from Him.

Ironically, we must know that everything is already taken care of so that we can relax enough to make right choices. Below, you’ll see four ways to handle the devil’s lies. These lies are thoughts in your mind that God won’t right whatever’s wrong in your life.

When You Hit an Emotional Wall

At level 1, there’s a weed in your garden (mind). Let Father God dig up the bad feelings that are blocking out his point of view. Let his thoughts root you in his acceptance.

At level 2, there’s a deeply-rooted set of lies that you can’t just dig up. Read over the scripture verses that he’s been using to speak to your heart. Let him expose and remove the fruitless lies that you believe so that worship can flow in your heart again.

At level 3, there are structured misconceptions that were built into your mind by your teachers, your parents, songs, movies, etc. God will tear these down piece by piece.

At level 4, you have been taught to defend your deception with a structured wall of belief. Your culture, denomination, family and friends keep these lies strong. Instead of trying to attack this Jericho wall, let God take you step by step until it crumbles down.

(Get the 4-level strategy below as a FREE PDF! See the instructions in the tan box at the bottom of this post to download your very own copy.)

Like the Israelites circled Jericho, we can identify the enemy’s strongholds in our lives and circle each weak area in prayer. With God’s Word, we cut through, push over and haul away the deception from our souls. This clears our emotional territory for occupying our personal promised land of peace, love and joy.

From the Bible:

• The walls of Jericho fall- Josh 6:14, 15, 20, Heb 11:30
• Clearing the branches- John 15:2-3
• The fruitless tree destroyed- Mt 21:21
• The fruit of love, joy and peace- Gal 5:22
• Demolishing strongholds- 2Co 10:4

How Deep is the Deception?

We can use The Intimacy Strategy below to enter God’s promised peace, love and joy whenever our worship hits an emotional wall. When you’re feeling overwhelmed, use one of the following tactics (either alone or with a mentor). Choose Level 1 when you’re facing a shallow attack of the enemy, and Level 4 for your deepest strongholds:

1. Clear the weeds and brush by anchoring your emotions in God’s caring emotions. Think of the moments in your life when you felt totally content and at peace in him. Ask him to remind you right now that he will turn all of your problems into pure goodness. If you have trouble with this, use The Security Strategy to resist negative thoughts.
2. Remove fruitless trees that keep draining your love, joy and peace. Notice the problems that keep blocking your path. Write a letter to God in your journal about the biggest one. Then, let God use your favorite Bible verses to cut, like a saw, through the devil’s half-truths. This will expose the core lie. Let God’s truth knock it over, then clear it away by resisting it every time it pops up.
3. Demolish buildings and strongholds by noticing any rotten structures of belief that don’t fit God’s viewpoint. (Examples: atheism, porn, the occult, poverty, etc.) The core beliefs that hold these up are like fruitless trees. Use #2, above, to remove them. Then, let God remove the walls (fear of rejection), doors (social pressure to go along with the lies) and rubble (the leftover skeletons in your closet, like bad music, magazines, books or relationships.) Ask a trusted mentor for help if needed.
4. Level defensive walls by forgiving yourself and others. Whenever you feel exposed, or vulnerable to being hurt, circle gently around this pressure point by facing the excuses (the smaller lies that hide the core lie). Ask the Lord to give you directions for healing, then watch these walls crumble. (A trained counselor may be needed.)

The next time you feel overwhelmed, choose one of the four steps above to break through the enemy’s strongholds and re-connect with God.

To use this strategy, print the PDF and keep it nearby the place where you can sit down when you feel overwhelmed. You can screenshot the four steps and diagram above to keep them handy on your phone.

Along with the PDF, you’ll also get bonus pages that dig down into the roots of negative emotions. This will help you pinpoint exactly where your bad feelings come from whenever they come up.

Let us know how this strategy is helping you get breakthrough! Chat with us in our free Facebook group at Facebook.com/groups/Sophiculture.

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Sara Ruth Tucker helps women to to come out of the religious obligation-based mindset into a fresh, delightful relationship with God. Click here to find out more about her coaching services.