Overwhelmed, Praise God in the Middle of the StormSample

Still Battling the Earn Mentality

Being a people pleaser for over three decades, my brain is hardwired to believe that I must earn respect, love, and likability from others.

I’m constantly questioning my actions. I keep thinking I need to be doing more for others; more for my job; more to earn others’ respect – all at the expense of me.

As I mentioned in the devotion yesterday, I went from having my team 100% staffed to only having 50% of staff.

In order to get all the work done my brain was telling me to wake up earlier to work, to skip showers, to skip lunch, to work late, and skip hours of sleep. When I wasn’t working, I began being irritated at my family with thoughts of, “Doesn’t my family understand the immense pressure I’m under at work?!”

On the contrary, my heart and soul were telling me to stay in bed and get the proper amount of sleep, to care for myself with a shower, to eat breakfast, to advocate and protect my lunch hour, to end work on time, to make dinner and be with my family, and to go to sleep at a reasonable time to give my body the rest it needed.

Then, God reminded me that I needed to take my old thought-cycles captive and listen to the Holy Spirit instead. I learned:

I must take my thoughts captive. I must lean into God’s word. I must trust God without the tiniest sliver of doubt because the thoughts created over a lifetime are hovering just outside the door!

I must remain in God. I must remember that I do not need to earn His love; it was a gift. I must remember that this is God’s plan, which is out of my control.

Key Takeaways:

• Do not strive for acceptance, but excellence in God

• Love yourself and care for yourself as God does

• God has called us human BEings, not human doings

Prayer:

Father, thank You for continuing to chase me down. Thank You for helping me take every thought captive in order to rewire my brain. May my eyes remain steadfast on You so that I may not strive for acceptance but instead accept Your everlasting love of me just as I am, a child of God.