Decisions, decisions, decisions! Have you ever felt like you just can’t possibly make another one? “I don’t even have the energy it takes to decide what we are even going to eat for dinner tonight. I am all decisioned out!” Is there anyone else who can possibly make this decision for me? Anyone?
Lord, please help!
A name has been given to this modern day phenomenon, “decision fatigue.” Can you find this mentioned anywhere in the Bible? No. I assure you, it’s not there. Is it something new? I am pretty sure the name for it is quite new. However, I believe the feelings associated with it have been around for a long time. I also believe that as time goes on, and as the availability of options grows exponentially, so can our feelings of being overwhelmed. But this is only if we don’t know what to do with those feelings or where to take them.
Did you know that it has been estimated that the average person makes about 35,000 decisions every day. When I initially read that, I thought there is no way! How can that be true? Then I began to actually ponder on it for a while. Just take a moment to think about it. Before we even get up in the morning, the alarm goes off. Should I get up now or hit the snooze button? Ok, I hit snooze. Now, I am just lying there thinking about the day ahead. Do I just get up or wait the five minutes for the alarm to go off again? I have to go to the bathroom. Do I wait for the alarm to go off or do I jump up and go and lie back down for another few minutes. You get the picture! This is all before we even get out of bed in the morning!
As we go about our day there are many decisions to make, some are very important, even urgent and others may be considered minor like what to wear or what we are eating for breakfast. After a while, having too many choices at our disposal may even seem overwhelming. We have begun to experience decision fatigue.
I hate to even admit that I have felt this way. I thought maybe it was because I had been a single mom for so long and was required to make all the parenting and household decisions on my own for many years. Let me tell you that was exhausting! However, I began to realize that it was actually about allowing the everyday circumstances of life to overwhelm me and steal my peace and joy. I was trying to do everything in my own strength instead of taking my burdens to the Lord. During that time in my life, the tendency was to panic first. Prayer was too often used as my last resort.
God never intended for us to live stressed out, overwhelmed and weary. We are not to rely on our own strength, our own self-sufficiency. We are to rely on God in humble submission to His sovereign authority, goodness, faithfulness and love for us. In His Word, He tells us to come to Him. We are invited to cast our burdens and rest in Him. He wants us to trade our anxiety and being overwhelmed for His perfect peace. He is our refuge, our fortress, our place of safety and rest. All we need to do is come to Him and surrender our cares and concerns to our Heavenly Father. He cares for us. We can trade our heavy burdens for His light one (Matthew 11:30). In our weariness, He gives us rest. He gives us His peace that surpasses all human understanding.
(1 Peter 5:7 NIV) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
