We all need help

This time of year is by far the most critical and stressful in my job. The future and profitability of my company depends greatly on the success of this summer time deadline. And while there are teams of people working to ensure this success, it is my area of responsibility. If I fail to forecast and prevent potential problems, if I fail to consider every scenario, if I fail to be thorough – we may not realize crucial income to the operation of our business.

This deadline often coincides with my youngest son’s birthday. It falls smack-dab in the middle of Summer, when vacations are planned, fun is to be had, and family time is a premium. This deadline almost always collides with large planned home improvement projects or annual maintenance that requires my attention. All of these tasks would be enjoyable and things I would normally look forward to. But when accompanied by the high pressure and sometimes unrealistic expectations of my job deadline, they can feel crushingly stressful.

As with most of us, when I am under this amount of pressure, my fuse is short, my focus is rarely where it should be; I sleep less, I eat more and, most dangerously, I rely solely on my own abilities to achieve success.

In the interest of being transparent, yesterday I cut my morning quiet time short. Instead of spending my normal amount of time in God’s word, offering Him praise, and listening for His direction – I hurried through and started working early. I had far too much to get done, I had to prioritize and, God would certainly understand if I took a rain check. I had a really productive morning. I crossed of many things from my to-do list. But by mid-day, I was feeling crushed by obligations. For everything I crossed off my list, two more were added. I started to feel physically sick. I started to feel like there was no way I could get everything done. This deadline was going to come and I was going to fail. I lashed out at a co-worker and at my wife for no reason. I was starting to lose it. I canceled a meeting and closed my laptop, and I prayed to God. I thanked Him and asked Him for help. I took a few minutes to catch my breath and regroup.

Within minutes of returning to my to-do list, feeling much more able, I started to see wins. They started small but they just kept piling up. By the end of the day, I felt better about achieving success at this deadline than I ever have. As I moved on to Father and Husband tasks that evening, my success continued. As I went to sleep last night, I remember thinking how I totally killed it. I was on fire. There was a LOT of I and Me, and I failed to realize what really contributed to the productive afternoon.

Then, this morning, I was determined not to cut my quiet time short. I said a prayer thanking God for yesterdays success and asked Him to speak to me and guide me today. He clearly reminded me that without Him I would have crumbled under the immense pressure yesterday, a fact I failed to realize in my self pride last night. He reminded me that He is always here, and always faithful. He reminded me of the Power that I possess through Him. That I can achieve success, but not alone or on my own merit. He is in control and I am not. He reminded me that we all need help.

Below are the versus that he presented me with this morning. Every single one was exactly what I needed to hear. God is so good.