Many women in midlife are quietly juggling countless tasks at once—appointments, medications, bills, calendars, meals, caring for aging parents, supporting adult children, church activities, and a home that never seems to stay tidy.
We convince ourselves that everything rests on us—even outcomes we can’t truly control. The tiredness we carry often isn’t from doing too much, but from holding on to burdens that were never meant to be ours.
A picture of this kind of burden was once carried by a beloved American president.
When Responsibility Feels Overwhelming
Abraham Lincoln carried a responsibility few people could imagine. He was not leading the nation through a war with another country, but through a battle within its own borders. The country was divided, families were fractured, and the future seemed uncertain. Advisors offered opinions, generals offered strategies, but in the end, the weight of decision fell on his shoulders alone.
Lincoln confessed to something unexpected:
“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” — as later recollected by journalist Noah Brooks, a friend of Lincoln*
He discovered what responsibility often teaches — leadership does not remove the need for God; it increases it.
In his Second Inaugural Address, March 1865, he spoke words that revealed a deep humility:
“The Almighty has His own purposes.”
Lincoln grasped a truth we often resist: even at our best, we can’t control the outcome. Lincoln could lead with dedication, but shaping history was beyond his power.
Sometimes the reason we feel overwhelmed is not because we are failing — it is because we are carrying things God never meant for us to carry alone.
Scripture gently reminds us:
“Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Psalm 127:1 ESV)
This doesn’t mean our effort isn’t important, just that it’s not the main factor. We can plan, care, organize, and work hard in our homes and relationships, but we’re not expected to guarantee results—we’re simply called to trust God with the outcome.
God never asked you to hold your life together by your own strength. He asked you to walk with Him inside it.
Micah 6:8 gives a picture of what God requires:
“…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (ESV)
Scripture doesn’t say God requires control, success, or influence. He asks us for daily faithfulness.
We may never lead a nation.
But we are leading something every day —
a home,
a relationship,
a conversation,
a season of life.
And God does not ask us to manage history.
He invites us to walk humbly with Him today.
Journaling Prompts:
- What responsibilities in your life currently feel the heaviest? Which of those has quietly shifted to become something you feel must control instead of entrusting it to God?
- Micah 6:8 says we are called to walk humbly with God. What might walking humbly with Him look like in one ordinary part of your daily routine this week?
- What is one worry that keeps playing over and over in your mind? Write a short prayer to hand that specific concern over to God.
* Although this quote is widely repeated, no existing document by Lincoln contains it. It was reported by Noah Brooks, scribe for the Sacramento Union, writing in the Harper’s Weekly for July 1865 (Wikiquotes).
Disclosure: The featured photo was generated by AI to show the content of this post.
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