7 minute read 
by Bethany Rees

When the World Feels Overwhelming

The past two weeks have been one of the hardest I’ve had in a long time. Between sitting in the ER and waiting rooms with a loved one battling health issues, learning about yet another school shooting, and feeling the ache and weight of global conflicts — it all piled on. And then I saw the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It felt like another blow, another reminder of how broken things are, how fragile life is, how quickly chaos can escalate.

I found myself wondering: how do I continue to live and lead when everything inside me wants to shut down? How do I stay faithful when the world feels like it’s ripping at the seams?

If I’m honest, it’s been one of those weeks where I’ve had to fight the urge to pull the covers back over my head, pour another cup of coffee, and just wish the chaos away. But life and leadership don’t pause when the storms come.

So how do we navigate weeks like this? How do we show up for our families, our teams, our communities—when we ourselves feel weary and overwhelmed?

I’m learning to go back to the basics.

I’m learning, slowly, that I don’t live or lead out of my strength—I must die to my ego, my vanity, my pride, and my desire for control and comfort.

Instead, I must live and lead from a posture of humility and dependence on God. 

And so I’ve been sitting before the Lord, asking Him to reset me, guide me, and teach me how to love Him first and then to love my neighbor, even when it’s hard.

Sitting Before the Lord

Before I can do anything else concerning the chaos that surrounds me (develop opinions, stances, responses or actions), I must first die to myself and sit before the Lord.

On my podcast this week I confessed, “You know what, I have to first fix the posture of my heart. I come at a lot of things from selfishness. I want comfort. I don’t necessarily want calling, because calling looks harder.”

That’s why Jesus’ words in Matthew 22 anchor me. He was asked about the greatest commandment and replied:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV)

So each morning lately, my prayer has been simple: “Lord, empty me of myself. Help me love You with my whole heart, soul, and mind. Fill me with your Spirit and show me my next right step.”

Loving My Neighbor

The second commandment is just as clear—love my neighbor as myself. But let’s be honest, that’s not easy when the world feels divided, loud, and angry.

We are a society that doesn’t even really know our neighbor. We’re focused on tasks and busyness, and we have surface-level conversations within shallow relationships. Sure we have our groups of friends but they tend to align to the same side of the political aisle that we subscribe to, which means we don’t necessarily know our neighbors. And we don’t know what they are going through. 

But Jesus didn’t say, “Love the people who agree with you.” He said, “Love your neighbor.” Period. In the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) we learn that every person is our neighbor. Every person we meet has value because they were created in the image of God.

In John C. Maxwell and Chris Hodges’ book Jesus the High Road Leader, Maxwell admits that he used to have the attitude of superiority in feeling that he was above the people he was meant to love and serve. What he learned was: 

If we see others as weak, we will try to help them.

If we see others as broken, we will try to fix them.

But if we see others as valuable, we will serve them. 

I have to admit that I too have been operating out of arrogance in thinking that I had more value, knowledge, and know-how than others and that it was my job to help them become more like me. Wrong! 

And for this I need to be humbled. Again, all people have value and as a follower of Christ I am to love and serve them—not judge them or give thanks that I am not like them. And yes, part of loving them is sharing my faith but not with brass knuckles. Instead in a loving gentle way that reflects Christ. 

With unbelievers, Christ was gentle (it was with the super religious that he was way more stern). Jesus asked questions. He listened. He loved. He served. He met them where they were and served them where they were (usually meeting their physical needs first). Then, he called them to himself—to truth—to have faith and sin no more. 

I am to love and serve others where they are and then point them to Christ (not my political preferences) in a loving way. It’s the power of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that changes hearts, souls, and minds—not me. 

Building on the Rock

So the question remains: How do we show up for our families, our teams, our communities—when we ourselves feel weary and overwhelmed?

In my 45 years of life, I am learning that no matter how proactive or organized I try to be, storms will keep coming. I can’t out-strategize the “end of days” chaos. That’s life on this side of heaven. But I also know that I (we) have a choice in what I (we) build on.

Are we going to build our lives and leadership on the sand? Or are we going to build it on the rocks?

After Jesus gave his sermon on the mount (the beatitudes characteristics of the believer, love your enemies, the Lord’s prayer, etc), he then says:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock… And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.” Matthew 7:24 & 26 [emphasis added]

The storms of chaos are coming for both. 

But building a life and leadership on the sand elements (focusing on being right, winning, status, power, money, trends, self-righteousness, self-importance, etc) will always crumble when the storms of chaos hover over our world. 

But building a life and leadership on the rock elements (Christ and biblical truths that show us how to live out our faith in a pagan world…aka THE ENTIRE BIBLE) will always stand firm in the storms of chaos. 

This week reminded me again: comfort is fleeting, but calling endures. And the calling Jesus gave us is clear—love God, love people. That is our calling and that is how we are to respond. 

So I implore you, sit before God and ask him to show you how to live and lead during these times of chaos. 

That’s how you and I will stand firm when the world feels like it’s falling apart. 

DWJD - DO WHAT JESUS DID!

Know Better. Do Better. Live Better. Love God. Love People.

Rocks Before Sand!

Scripture: 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–39, ESV)

Theme Song: 

Eye Of The Storm - [Lyric Video] Ryan Stevenson

References Used:
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.