Having confidence in your decisions

Many of us feel plagued with a sense of overwhelm and dread. The future is uncertain. Decisions you confidently made are now having some unintended consequences of devastating effects. Perhaps you can echo the words of the psalmist in Psalm 69:1, "I feel as if I am about to drown." The psalmist who is overwhelmed describes several actions he takes to thrive when he feels that everyone and everything was against him. First, know that even the best goal with the purest intentions, dancing with unwise actions, can bring devastating consequences. The psalmist seems to feel this way. While we can only speculate as to what he did, it is clear from the poem that he set out to do the Lord's will with an unmatched passion but made some unwise decisions that put many influential people against him.

Thriving with everything that is stacked against you requires you to examine your motivation and what you can and cannot control. You cannot control how others respond to you. You cannot control how they interpret your motives. You can only define, dialogue, and move towards what you want to accomplish. Thriving when overwhelmed demands knowing what you have authority over and do not.

Secondly, the psalmist in verse 13 shifts his tone from his overwhelming situation to seek the Lord for deliverance. When turning my focus from the situation and taking it to the Lord in prayer, I can testify how my heart and demeanor change. His presence offers a feeling of peace amid the chaos. As a modern proverb says, "I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow."

Lastly, the psalmist also surrenders his deadlines. Pressing and unrealistic deadlines may have led him to make some rushed and foolish decisions. However, his tone in verse 13 changes from zeal to patience, confidently knowing the Lord will answer at an "acceptable time' (vs. 13).

An "acceptable time" means waiting. None of us like to wait. Yet, when you wait in faith, knowing that the Lord will answer in his way and his time, you have a sense of confidence that is not beyond the situation but your strength. Confident faith says that I will be responsible for what I have been entrusted with, knowing that God will act in his way and in his time.

You can have a sense of peace in the middle of your overwhelming situation.