Saturday, December 9, 2017

Feeling Inadequate

I was recently feeling very overwhelmed and inadequate, and as I worked through the reasons why I thought that the answers I discovered might be helpful for someone else to read also. So, here I leave them: real reasons why I might feel inadequate in my life and what I need to do to fix them.
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I am inadequate, and that's the way God designed it.
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One of my children has always been particularly needy and attached to me. This child wants me to do everything for them, no substitutes are acceptable, and the list of things that need to be done can be quite extensive. I cannot physically fulfill all of this child's needs: no one person ever could, and a mother who tried would inevitably fail to fulfill some of the real needs of the other children in the family. As I was praying about the situation awhile back, the response that came to mind was that the unfulfilled (by me) needs will someday help that child turn to the Lord to fulfill them. I can pour every ounce of my love into this person and it will not be enough, but God has infinite love. The child will be unhappy often because I have delegated to older siblings and other adults the pouring of the milk glass, the washing of the hands, and various other needs, but that unhappiness will eventually help the child grow into understanding that material satisfaction will not bring the same level of joy that only God can provide.
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God did not create us to be everything to everyone in all circumstances. Only He can fulfill every need. My inadequacies force me to depend upon Him and encourage others to turn to Him also.
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I am adequate, my feelings are simply not telling the complete story.
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God provides every grace that we need for the tasks He entrusts to us. Some of my feelings of inadequacies are nothing more than wisps, less substantial than a gentle breeze. I need to realize that my feelings sometimes lie to me. I need to uncover the truth and live by it. I am enough, through Christ, for the life and the burdens He has given to me.
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Someone else needs to step up.
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I've heard at various times the claim that in a typical church, 20% of the members complete 80% of the work. Whether or not that claim is true, sometimes my feelings of being unable to complete everything that needs to be done is directly related to whether I should really be doing it all. Perhaps someone in my household needs to step up their game. Perhaps I need to train a child to take on another chore. Perhaps it's time to arrange to hire a house cleaner or trade babysitting or carpooling with a friend. It's not that the tasks need to be left undone, it's just that someone else should be the one doing some of them. If I am trying to do everything by myself then I will fail and I will feel overwhelmed.
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I have taken on tasks that do not belong to me.
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Someone, somewhere, is always telling me what I should do differently. Whether it's saving the environment, donating to worthy causes, eating healthier, becoming more involved in politics, decorating more beautifully, raising my family differently, exercising more, incorporating specific devotions in my prayer life, volunteering more--there is always someone ready to suggest that I could do better than I am doing at the moment. No one could every possibly fulfill that artificially perfect life. Some of those missions are mine, but sometimes I get caught in someone else's vision and forget to discern what I am supposed to do.
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Whenever I take on tasks because someone else said that I should, or fail to let go of tasks that used to be appropriate before my life circumstances changed, my stress increases and my effectiveness decreases. They might not be bad activities. They might be goals that I have been faithful to in the past and might take on again in the future. But right now, at this stage in my life, they are not appropriate for me to focus on. And I will feel inadequate if I try.
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Feeling inadequate is only the first step.
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What is causing my feeling? Does something need to change or do I need to simply let go? By identifying the causes I can grow into a better person, one who allows my failures to improve my life rather than becoming defeated by them.

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