Lies We Believe…
- I’m not enough
- I’ll never…
- …change!
- …get that promotion!
- …be happy again!
- …be free from this ______!
- What’s wrong with me?
- Nice people finish last.
- You deserve this!
- If you weren’t so _____, this would have never happened!
- I’m stuck. I’ll never get out from under this!
- It’s just the way I am (she/he is.)
I’m Not Enough!
(New Mom Feeling Overwhelmed)
I feel paralyzed. I’m shutting down. I just can’t seem to handle even simple tasks. I feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to begin climbing out of this pit I’m in. I’ve realized I’ve believed a lie — I’M NOT ENOUGH. Even though I can see it’s a lie, I still believe it. Everything in my life points to it. I’m not enough . . .
Like paying bills on time or even opening my mail. It piles up and then I feel overwhelmed and fearful to start. I want it to just go away. I need help — but the responsibility relies on me.
I have no energy to get the kids to bed early or establish a nighttime routine like brushing their teeth or reading books. Things so simple, yet drain every last ounce of energy from me just to think about, yet to do it.
Meals. Sometimes I fix really good healthy meals, very elaborate and then nobody eats it because it looks weird. So I give up trying. The kids resort to eating bowls of cereal. I rarely plan anything out. I just fly by the seat of my pants. My husband ends up cooking or we go out to eat (which we can’t afford.) I look in the fridge and nothing looks good to me. So I don’t eat or eat a bite here and a bite there. There is no set time to eat and the kids rarely sit at the table — they keep getting up. There is no structure or discipline or RESPECT.
The house is piling up with junk — toys, unfolded laundry, dishes. My kids just leave their trash on the floor for me to pick up. The house is a disaster. I can barely walk through at times. I ask the kids or my husband to help, but all I get are excuses. It’s getting so out of control. I feel embarrassed and ANGRY. Nobody seems to care.
I keep talking about losing weight and my need to exercise but then don’t do anything about it. I get depressed and feel like it’s going to be like this forever. I go shopping and try to find clothes that will fit after pregnancy. I hate it. Looking at myself in the mirror of the dressing room is disgusting. I hate what I’ve become and feel hopeless to change. So I leave without buying anything. I just wear t-shirts and baggy jeans, anything I can find. But I look sloppy, unkept. I don’t want to waste money on clothes I hope NOT to be in later once I lose weight. I don’t feel pretty. It’s a rare deal to put on makeup or do my hair. Why bother. I’m lucky to get a shower.
Everybody needs something from me, but I have nothing left to give. I’m used up, tired. I need a break. When I do get a break, I don’t know what to do with myself because it’s been so long, so I end up not doing nothing or start doing work. I feel uncomfortable “not doing anything” when there is so much to do. But I’m starting to break down. I can’t keep up the pace. I’m not able to handle everything that is being thrown at me.
This struggle in my marriage has literally wiped me out. Then I feel guilty for not being there for my kids. They constantly ask me to play — I feel my stomach drop. I don’t want to play. I don’t feel like having fun or smiling. I don’t like faking it or pretending to enjoy it. I feel horrible because they really need me.
I want to be a great mom, but I don’t have any energy to make it happen. Sometimes I do really good and get a lot accomplished but then I burn out and don’t do anything. It goes in spurts. It is never consistent. There is no routine. I don’t want to mess my kids up because of my junk.
I wish sometimes I could just start over. This stinks! I think I’m depressed. “I’m not enough” doesn’t feel like a LIE — it feels like MY REALITY. I can’t keep up. I can’t do it all. I need help.
Where is God in all this? I feel abandoned.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with life and ready to give up? Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you?
WHAT DOES GOD SAY?
3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NIV)
So how do we do this? Simply put…
- Demolish Arguments
- Take Captive our Thoughts
- Pull Down… Drag over… Submit our Thoughts and Feelings to God
We need to ask God, “This is what I am thinking, God. What do YOU think? What is the TRUTH about this situation?”
We need to pull down our negative thoughts and drag them before God.
We need to lay our concerns at His feet and bring it before the TRUTH of his Word. What does the Bible say?
We need to exchange the TRUTH of what God says for the LIES we’ve believed.
We need to SPEAK the truth — and BELIEVE the truth — instead of how we are feeling.
