Not long ago, I had a large project to work on from home. It was my responsibility and there was an urgent deadline. Just a couple hours in, however, I began feeling a dull pain in my head. Within minutes, it had swollen to a massive, pounding headache like nothing I’d ever felt. I leaned my head on the desk and then found I couldn’t lift it back up. My vision began blurring, and so did my thoughts. I somehow stumbled to my room and collapsed on the bed. With my heart thundering in my ears, and both eyes feeling ready to burst out of their sockets, I cried out loud, “Lord, help me!” Minutes later, I fell asleep.
Upon waking up later, and feeling much better, I went back to work, rapidly forgetting about the whole ordeal. For a while. Because the next morning, it hit again. And the next day, and the day after. I found myself making little progress, taking pain meds, and still unable to quell the continual ache. Even when it would slightly subside, I’d worry about when it would return. Although I continued to pray for healing, I also stressed about the deadline and how I would complete my work in time.
I suddenly realized I’d been approaching my work all wrong. Sure, I prayed before starting, but only out of habit. Then I pushed in my own strength, the whole time promising myself “I will, I will, I will!” In fact, worry and stress have been a part of my workflow for a long time.
So I took a few minutes to sit back and connect with Jesus through prayer before starting again. Amazingly, my work began flowing, problems got solved, and progress was made. And after several hours, I noticed something. There was no pain. My headache was gone.
Within a few days, my project was successfully completed, ahead of schedule. My headache hasn’t returned, and my whole attitude has shifted. That headache was too much for me, but not too much for Jesus. Now, when a task looms large, I’m changing my “I will” to a confident “He will,” letting Him do the heavy lifting for me.1
- See 1 Peter 5:7.↑