Overcoming Overwhelm: God's Comfort for Working Mothers - Find Peace and Purpose in the Dance of Work and MotherhoodSample

Day One: Exhaustion and Overwhelm

There have been more days than I’d like to admit as a working mother of two, when I’ve cried out to God for help.

Help with the overwhelm, help with the exhaustion, and probably most often, help with the fact that now of all times when it feels as though I need him most, his presence feels far off. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this way. In fact, I know I’m not.

Motherhood is a lot. Working (I mean, the work we do outside of being a parent) is also a lot. That said, motherhood is one of the biggest blessings ever to be bestowed upon us, and with so many people who would give anything to be in our shoes, crying from a place of exhaustion and overwhelm just feels ungrateful, right?

1 Kings 19 is positioned right after Elijah’s dramatic defeat of 450 of Baal’s prophets. Outside looking in, this was cause for celebration and joy and of course, it was. However, there was a slight curveball in the form of King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, who was so zealous for Baal that she was going to stop at nothing to have Elijah killed for what he’d done.

The juxtaposition of battle and blessing is one that Christian working mothers face regularly. The meeting you had to cancel due to another bug being brought home from nursery, or the guilt faced over giving that bit of extra screen time to your child whilst you attempt to squeeze out a few extra emails on one hand. And the sweet voiced ‘love you mumma’ as you walk out of their bedroom, or the beaming smile they give you as they sing out loud and proud in their first nativity on the other.

Sometimes it can feel like, despite our best efforts, we’re never doing quite enough in either arena, and that’s when overwhelm can kick in. The truth here though is that, just like 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, in our weakness, he is strong. We were never meant to spin this many plates in our own strength. There is absolutely no amount of overwhelm too big for the Lord, even if it feels that way. God appeared to Elijah at the moment he felt he couldn’t go on, and he does the same for us today.

Give yourself some time to reflect on the following: