Hanging Over Me

Continuing my thoughts from Sunday. I know we have all experienced it, the feeling that there is something or a number of things that are hanging over our heads. Many of these 'things' are of our own doing, some are not. At times, it is a like a little rain cloud, and we know that with time it will pass and the sun will again shine on our lives. It is often a job that needs doing, not a pleasant job, but we have been procrastinating and it hangs there, blocking the view to our joy in life.

Unresolved issues can create monumental overhangs that can feel like they could collapse at any time and crush us. Dealing with these 'overhanging issues' quickly, helps to negate their impact on our lives, but sometimes we have to live with negative things in our lives for a long time, and they drag us down and can cause depression.

At any given time, I, like you, have a few of these overhangs looming above me. Right now, I have at least a half dozen of the larger type and several of the type that go away when we simply take care of them.

For example, the tax preparation that I have started but not completed. It is a minor issue, but still weighs me down as it gives me guilt when I spend some free time doing something other than tax preparation. But this is a small issue and will eventually be dealt with and will be put out of my mind completely. There is another issue that will be resolved in a few weeks, however, I do not know the outcome, and this weighs me down.

There are larger issues that are not for discussing on a blog, but you get my meaning by now. How we handle these issue that hang over our heads is a testament to our character and perhaps also to our faith. We often feel like our lives are not in our own hands, in our own control, and that is probably true to a large degree. If we believe this, it should not make us anxious, but actually bring relief. Does that not lift the burden, or at least share it? If God is not in our lives, then this would simply be labeled as a fatalistic viewpoint. If we put God in the mix, then it means that someone bigger, wiser, stronger and more capable is orchestrating some or all of our life. For me, at least, this takes off a lot of the pressure and I know I can walk under the overhanging rocks in my life without fear that I will be crushed.