March | 2006 | Tom Zimmer

Overwhelmed!, I have a new boss at work, and she has a very different style from my old boss. The new style now involves many meetings, and stacks of schedules. I am having to learn how to use new project scheduling tools, how to breakdown large projects down into small pieces so that completion times can be estimated. In essence, I am learning how to actually be a manager. I thought I was a manager before, but what I really was, was a leader. I would identify the direction things needed to go, consult with my people, get their agreement on the general way to move forward, and then let them go do it. The people that report to me are very capable, and I had confidence that they would get the job done, so I didn’t need to be very concerned, once a general direction was set. Now, things are different. I have lots of new responsibilities, and the amount of structure has increased enormously. I often feel so overwhelmed with not knowing how to do a task, and with fear that I will forget something, and with the huge number of things that need to be done, that I have thoughts of just walking out. “Take this job and shoving it” as the song says. Now I know I won’t get much sympathy from many of you, because I know that a lot of you have been through, or are going through a time in your life which is much worse than my little difficulty. But, that frankly is not the point. It doesn’t matter whether I am justified in my feelings, because feelings are like that. They are what they are. The real question, is where are the thoughts coming from that lead me to having those feelings. One thing I can tell you definitively, is that they are not from GOD! You see, God wants me to be at peace in all circumstances, in times of plenty and times of want, in times of peace, and times of turmoil. So if that is true, and I believe it is, because the Bible tells me it is, then why do I feel this way? Well the answer is as always pretty simple. There are really only two reasons why I would have these thoughts and feelings. Either I am not trusting God to take care of my situation, or Satan is placing lies in my head and I am listening to him. I think it is probably a little of both. I think I am having trouble trusting God, as that has always been one of my “problems” that God wants to “repair”, and I also think I have been listening to that voice in my head that tells me that “I can’t do this” and “I should just walk out”, instead of declaring those thoughts to be lies and then turning to God who has promised me that “All things work together for the good, for those that trust the Lord”. Did it really say “All things”? yes it says “ALL THINGS”. I have a choice, I can trust God in all of my circumstances, or… I can be defeated. Hmmm…, maybe there is really only one choice.

Tom Zimmer