“Too much” goes two ways.
There is the too much over-working, too much over-doing, taking too much on, too much killing ourselves for more, too much self-reliance, living in a hyperactive, micro-managing mindset that the world depends on us doing too much. And then there is the other “too much”. The too much hiding, too much quietness, too much compliance and saving face. Too much fear. Too much avoiding. Too much shame. Too much pleasing people who can never be pleased.
Where does all this lead? To too much burnout.
Whichever extreme we tend to land on, too much either way is damaging to the body, the mind, the spirit, and the soul. It is taxing and exhausting. It leads to depression and weariness.
Bottom line: Too much is unhealthy.
We have to ask ourselves, where is this need for excessiveness coming from? What lie are we believing about ourselves that drives us to too much? What are we chasing after? What are we hoping to achieve? If we overwork our tired and depleted bodies, are we truly going to reap something precious and eternal, or will we end up still empty on the inside? If we abdicate our identity and lose ourselves to someone else’s yard stick of expectation, are we going to find our true selves at the end of it all? Does this crazy internal drive really honor and please God?
Too much of anything in our lives, regardless of which way you tend to lean, is a silent scream for help. We have lost our footing. We have lost our God-given identity – that assurance of who we are in Him – and we have traded it for a bargain brand alternative.
When we receive Christ as our Savior, we enter into a deep and life-giving relationship with him. We become “in Christ” (Ephesians 1:1).
We are chosen, adopted, and redeemed. We are restored and made new by his sacrifice for us. We are owned by God. We are sons and daughters. We have hope, and we have a promising future.
“Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13, 14
According to Merriam-Webster a seal is “something that confirms, ratifies, or makes secure: a guarantee, assurance.”
When you and I chose to believe in Jesus, when we surrendered our lives, our hopes, dreams, personalities and all the different parts of ourselves to Jesus, he then placed his seal – his ratifying guarantee of who we are and to whom we belong – upon our hearts. He gave us the Holy Spirit to dwell in our very broken lives – to quicken our minds, to remind us that we have been chosen, that we have value, that we are legitimate in his Kingdom. The Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives should stand as a constant reminder of who we are: we belong to God.
The minute we start to rev our engines and lower our foot onto the gas pedal in order to peel our way in the direction of too much is the minute we have entered into an identity crisis. The “too much” is the symptom; it is the outward expression of the inward chaos. And while merely pinpointing the crisis in our lives does not necessarily fix the root issue, it can, at least, bring the issue into the light.
Freedom from the “too much” trap begins with acknowledging that we’ve lost our way.
To run in that freedom will require baby steps towards transformation.
“He leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Psalm 23
Transformation begins with turning off the noise of the outside world and recognizing our broken attempts to restoration. It is taking the hand God is extending to us and holding on tightly to him as he leads us to quiet waters. Our Shepherd leads us to this place not so that we can disrupt it with our too much doing or too much hiding. He brings us here to be restored and renewed, clinging to each promise, breathing in his truth and presence, standing firm in our adoption, heirs to the throne. And, when we do so, we will find ourselves living in the balance of God’s perfect peace- no longer too much this way or that way, but happily and joyfully content in, and restored to, His way.
“For he himself is our peace.” Ephesians 2:14
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