Trusting God in a Season of Answered Prayers, Pressure, and Overwhelm

Hi, EZ Breezy Community!

I know it has been an incredibly long time since I last wrote on the blog. Life has been life-ing. Yet, in the most amazing ways, God has continued to make a way.

This past year has taught me something I do not want to forget: every skill you learned in the valley is also necessary in your winning season.

This past year has brought some of the most exhausting moments of my life. The strange thing is that I wasn't weary because I hated the work I was doing. I was tired while doing the work I had genuinely prayed God would give me. These were answered prayers. These were opportunities I once asked God to place in my hands. These were rooms I prayed to enter, assignments I prayed to receive, and responsibilities connected to the purpose I believed God had for my life.

Still, receiving what I prayed for did not keep fatigue and overwhelm from finding me. There were moments when I stopped and literally said to God, “Are You trying to finish me?” Because there was no way I could be an assignment in so many different spaces and places at the same time. There was no way I could carry so many responsibilities, meet so many needs, and remain fully present for everyone who depended on me. At least, that was how it felt.

Even the work you prayed for can become heavy. Even a winning season can require endurance. Even answered prayers can bring pressure.

After Tishe was born, I decided to settle down and focus on my household. I felt God leading me to put things in order, organize the closets, declutter the home, and pay attention to the small details. My family had endured so much during the previous nine years. To be honest, our last two moves had been chaotic. As with anything done without proper order, small details were left unfinished. Little by little, those unfinished things began to pile up. Before long, parts of my life felt unrecognizable to me.

I had gone from being an extremely organized, neat freak to becoming someone who could not find a shoe in the morning. I did not know how I had gotten there. It was deeply frustrating because my mind works best in spaces that are organized, peaceful, and clear.

I was thankful for the break God gave me, but I eventually realized I had not maximized that season as I should have. God repeatedly told me to rest. What I did not fully understand at the time was that He was also preparing me. He knew that when He told me to get up again, I would have to get all the way up.

There are moments now when God calls me into another place, and my honest response is, “Do I absolutely have to go?” I often wait for a quiet moment to breathe. But even when that moment comes, I can immediately think of 20 other things I have not done. The unfinished tasks begin forming a list in my mind. The responsibilities start calling my name. The needs of the people I love begin competing for my attention. Before I know it, what should have been a moment of rest becomes another moment of overwhelm.

Perhaps you understand that feeling. You may have prayed for the life you are now living, but you are still tired. You may be grateful for your family, career, ministry, business, or new opportunities, yet still need room to exhale. You may know that God has been good, yet wonder how you will keep carrying everything He has placed before you.

Gratitude and exhaustion can exist in the same heart.

Today, I took a few moments for quiet reflection at God’s feet. Those moments have been few and far between during this season of my life. As I sat with Him, I was reminded that the God who was faithful in the wilderness is still faithful today.

Restoration is a process. It does not happen all at once. Sometimes God restores your opportunities before He restores your energy. Sometimes, he opens the door while you are still recovering from what happened behind the last one. Sometimes the promise arrives while you are still learning how to live outside the survival patterns that once kept you going.

That is why the lessons of the valley remain important, even when we reach the mountaintop. The valley taught us how to pray. It taught us how to listen. It taught us how to wait. It taught us how to depend on God when we could not see the next step. Those lessons are not only for difficult seasons. We need them when life begins to flourish, too.

I have asked God to give me hind’s feet in high places, but high places do not come without pressure. Sometimes the air feels thin. Sometimes the journey feels like a tightrope walk. Sometimes it feels as though you are standing at the edge of a building, holding your breath and praying that you can remain steady long enough to take the next step. There were times during this past year when I felt that very emotion. I had to walk with God one step at a time. I prayed for the lines to fall for me in pleasant places. I asked Him for wisdom before meetings, strength before assignments, grace in my home, and strategies for circumstances that appeared impossible.

I did not get everything right. Not even close. But whenever I reached the end of my understanding, God’s grace met me there. His grace would sweep in and give me a strategy. He would show me what to release. He would reveal what could wait. He would send help. He would make room. He would remind me that I was never carrying my life by myself.

The Lord has truly been kind.

One truth I am recording in this season of my life is that the same God who was faithful to me in the valley is still faithful on the mountaintop. His faithfulness is not limited to emergencies. He is not only present when we are broken, grieving, waiting, or wandering through the wilderness. He is also present when the doors open. He is present when the responsibility increases. He is present when the prayer is answered. He is present when the dream becomes real, and we must learn how to steward it.

Wherever you find yourself today, God is there. You may be fully functioning in the purpose God has for you in this season. You may be sitting quietly in preparation. You may be rebuilding your life. You may be carrying responsibilities that feel greater than your strength. You may be walking through hardship and wondering when your circumstances will change.

In every one of those places, God remains your ever-present help and comforter.

As His child, you can simply say, “God, help me. I need wisdom. I need support. I do not know what to do next. I am grateful, but I am tired. Please meet me here.”

And He will meet you.

The King of my heart is still faithful today, just as He was eight years ago when I needed Him most. He was faithful in the valley. He is faithful on the mountaintop. He will be faithful in whatever season comes next.

Love you deep.

Till next time,

Issata <3