Glory & Grit : Season 2, Episode 6 - When Everything Matters But You Can’t Do Everything
Show Notes:
Summary
The needs are real. The work matters. The people matter. So how do you admit that you still cannot do all of it?
In this solo episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie begins with the moment her computer snitched on her: she had fallen asleep with her hands on the keyboard, leaving a row of J’s and D’s across the screen. Beneath the funny evidence was a serious pattern. She was treating limited capacity as though it contained unlimited energy, strength, attention, and time.
Stephanie walks through the false math that turns every important thing into an urgent personal assignment. Drawing from Mosiah 4:27, she considers how diligence belongs beside wisdom, order, and honest strength. Mark 6:30–31 adds another picture: Jesus called the apostles apart to rest while people were still coming and going and the needs had not disappeared.
This is not permission to stop caring or abandon what truly belongs to you. It is an invitation to distinguish unwillingness from human limitation, discernment, and surrender—and to make one faithful adjustment before your body is forced to make it for you.
Key Topics
The keyboard moment that exposed a pattern of exhaustion
How worthy responsibilities become equally urgent in our minds
The difference between unwillingness, limitation, discernment, and surrender
What Mosiah 4:27 teaches about strength, diligence, wisdom, and order
Why Mark 6 shows that rest is not abandonment of meaningful work
Practical examples of faithful limits and the four-part Capacity Sort
Takeaways
Something can matter deeply without being meant to cost you everything every week.
If everything occupies first place, there is no order.
Planning ahead, changing the method, asking for help, or moving a task can be faithful choices.
Exhaustion is not proof of obedience.
God remains present and active when you sleep, delegate, simplify, or wait.
Transcript:
Stephanie (00:01)
Recently, my computer snitched on me. I looked down and then I saw a row of J's and D's going all the way across the screen. This unfortunately was not a typo. I'd fallen asleep with my hands on the keyboard.
And it left me with a question. When everything I'm doing matters, how do I admit that I still cannot do all of it?
Hi friend, welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I'm your host, Stephanie, and I'm so glad you're here today. This season we've been talking about rebuilding identity, waiting, healing, endurance, surrender, and
Learning to recognize God's faithfulness in real life. Today we're asking: how do I live faithfully when the needs are real, the work matters, and I don't have the capacity to do it all? Let's get started.
Okay, so like I said, the computer stitched on me. When I was sitting at my desk typing and I must have closed my eyes for a moment. I know I didn't get a nap, so it had to have been a moment. And when I opened my eyes, all I could see going across the screen was all the way across the screen.
Okay, and like I said, this was not a typo. I'd fallen asleep with my hands on the keyboard. I had already been fighting sleep at work. I was fighting sleep on camera. I nearly fell asleep on camera.
But the computer had preserved all the evidence before I was even really ready to acknowledge that this was a pattern.
Now...
I was sitting at my desk and I was trying to think of all the things that I had learned at home in this capacity with the podcast and other assignments and responsibilities that I had, how I could bring that into my role at work as a credentialing specialist.
And so I was working on that. And I had, you know, some other things that needed to be done. I had some other responsibilities. But that ridiculous line on the screen. And my first reaction was like, Girl, you're doing too much. You really are doing too much right now. And all I could hear was my best friends like, you need to stop adding on more things. And then I'd add something else on. And she'd fuss me out and looking at that crazy line on the screen just showed me that she was right. I have taken on too much in a short period of time. Not that these things couldn't be done, not that they weren't important, because I do have responsibilities. I have responsibility to work. I have responsibilities to organizations that I belong to, Toastmasters, I have responsibilities to a lot of people, places, things, right? Home, family, you know, all the things.
And all those things are worthy responsibilities, but they're also all competing for the same limited strength that I have, right? Because I'm only human. So the realization that the problem isn't a lack of caring.
It was trying to make the limited capacity that I have behave like I had unlimited amount of energy, strength, space, mentality, and time.
Something can matter deeply and still not be meant to cost you everything every single week. Okay, now the difficult part is that these needs weren't imaginary, right? And they were important things, they mattered to me, and they mattered to the people who I'm held responsible to for them. But
When everything matters, it becomes really easy to treat everything as urgent.
If it's important, it must be urgent. If it's urgent, it must be mine. If it's mine, it must happen now. If it must happen now,
I gotta somehow do it myself.
Now...
This can feel spiritual or you know make you feel very responsible because you love the people who you hold these responsibilities to. You're grateful, and this is a big one of mine. You're grateful for the opportunity. like the other thing I added on, subbing and Zumba. Which is what my best friend was fussing me out, but you've already got enough stuff to do. so but you're just so grateful for the opportunity. How can I say no? Mm-hmm. You know that one. The work is connected to a calling or a promise or a family responsibility, or just it's a genuine need, it's not a made-up thing, right? or even this one.
You know how to do the task, so asking for help can make you feel like you're failing and that you're admitting to somebody else that you're failing. Do you know that one? A real need isn't automatically my assignment. It's not automatically your assignment.
An assignment for the season is not automatically an assignment for this exact moment. Okay. This is why I keep coming back to one sentence from King Benjamin. And he doesn't tell us to stop caring, he tells us how faithful caring has to be carried, right?
Okay, in Mosiah chapter four, verse twenty seven, and see that all these things are done in wisdom and order. For it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient.
That he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize. Therefore, all things must be done in order.
Mm-hmm.
and King Benjamin says this while he's teaching people to care for those in need, right? And that that's important work, right? That matters. But he doesn't choose between compassion and limits, right? He puts diligence beside wisdom and order. Do not run faster.
It's not permission for you to stop walking, right? Be diligent. It's not permission to ignore strength. Order requires us to choose, right? If everything occupies first place in our list or in our life, then where is the order? There isn't any, right? Because everything's first.
Everything's urgent, everything's priority. Wisdom might change the pace, the method, the timing, or the person's responsible without declaring the need is unimportant.
God doesn't ask them to stop doing good things or good work. He told them to do it in a way that could honor both diligence and human strength. The good way. That's the good way to do it, right?
And sometimes I treat wisdom and order like the boring administrative part of discipleship. But it might be the very thing that allows our faithfulness to last, right?
We're gonna separate this into four things. This is our capacity meter, okay?
Number one.
unwillingness. I can responsibly do what's mine, but I simply refuse to do it.
Human limitation. I can't keep carrying everything this way without harm or collapsing.
Next one discernment. This matters, but
It doesn't belong in this week or in this form or solely in my hands. And the fourth one, surrender. Somebody might be disappointed, and I still can't manufacture strength that I just don't have.
Your limit is information, right? It's not automatically an indictment of your faith or your discipline or even your love.
Am I refusing what is actually mine? Or am I admitting that I can't do five people's job at one time?
Is this truly urgent,
Or does it only feel urgent because someone wants an answer now?
Would asking for help be irresponsibility or wisdom in order?
What am I trying to prove by carrying this alone?
Those are some good questions to ask yourself when you need to make a decision about what you're carrying and what you're doing and why. Okay.
In Mark six thirty, the apostles return from during their ministry. They've been out there working hard. They come back and they report to Jesus all that they've done and all that they've taught. And people were still coming and going, okay, while they're giving this report. And they didn't even have the leisurely time to eat.
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. So clearly they didn't get hangry, 'cause you know
I don't know that I could have done it. But they were focused. They were focused on doing the Lord's work, good work, helping people, taking care of people. But you know what Jesus didn't do? He didn't call the work that they were doing meaningless, useless. He didn't wait until no one needed anything, right? He didn't wait until everybody's needs had been met. The crowd of people were still there. But Jesus recognized that his disciples are people, they're human. We are human. Humans get hungry. We have to eat. Whether we get hangry or not, we still need nutrients to keep the body running. Okay. He realized that.
They were people, not just workers for the kingdom. Rest didn't mean that the ministry had failed, it was part of continuing to live and serve as human beings. Again, because we need nourishment, right? And the Lord knew that. Rest is not what you earn after every need disappears.
If that were the rule, no one would ever rest. Mm-hmm.
All right.
Let's talk about what faithful limits can look like.
For me, and maybe even for you too, preparing earlier instead of depending on a last minute rescue from your own body. Like some of those late all-nighters I have to pull to get the episode done, edited, posted everywhere, and the website done, and notes posted the companion pages posted, all the things, right?
Another one letting good and complete be enough instead of polishing until nothing is left of you. Kind of do that one too. Asking another person to carry the portion that belongs to them. Yes, you can do that. It is allowed, it's okay.
If it's theirs to carry, it is perfectly okay for you to ask them to carry what is theirs instead of wearing yourself down to the bone. How about
Moving a worthy task to another day without declaring that it's abandoned. Just because you moved it to another day doesn't mean you've given up on it. You just don't have the strength to do it today. If it's on today's list and you can't, but Tuesday, you have an opening and you have time to deal with it.
Move it to Tuesday, my friend. It is okay. You have not abandoned, you've just moved it. Let's talk about this one. Saying no to one meaningful thing so that you can keep a clearer yes. Yes, it's a good thing. Yes, it's worthy. Yes, you can do it. But you're all ready at your capacity.
It's okay. We can say, and I'm not just preaching to the choir, I'm talking to myself here too. it's okay. It's okay to say no. Then you have a better yes on all the things that you said yes to instead of sketchy yeses on everything because you've over stimulated, overbooked yourself, right? You also again we're human.
You need to receive medical care. You need rest. You need nutritious food. And although my body doesn't always think so, you need sleep. Okay?
Don't treat your basic human needs as a spiritual weakness. It is not. It is basic human need.
How about this one? Changing the method when the original plan no longer fits your actual strength. It's okay. It's okay. If it was done this way and that's not working for you and it's making you exhausted, change the method to something that can.
Utilize the strength that you have, the mindset that you have, so that you can keep pressing forward. and then this one: leaving space in your schedule so one interruption doesn't turn the whole week into an emergency. you know I'm a paper planner, I'm a disc bound planner, so I love a planner.
but if you book every hour of your planner or schedule or whatever you want to call it, when some emergency pops up because it will, that's why they're called emergencies. If your planner is booked hour to minute to minute
You are going to crack because you have no wiggle room, right? So when you're making your planner, your schedule for the next week or the next day, leave some space in there for in case something happens, if there's an emergency, if someone needs you, if it's their emergency, you got a little wiggle room in there, right?
And understand that everybody works differently. Everybody has different workloads. They have different caregiving demands on their time and energies.
sometimes people may not always have access to the type of help that they might need. So bear that in mind and give yourself some grace. Okay. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to yourself.
Boundaries aren't the same for everybody. Everybody's lifestyle, their mindset, their finances, their community, their just whole life, everybody's different.
But bear in mind that you have to work with the choices that you have in your life, not the choices that I have in mine or that Mary has in hers. Because Mary's not walking in your shoes. She's not living your life. So she can't, she may not have the same steps available that you have, or she may have many more. Work within the choices that you have.
And show yourself a little grace. Okay. And it's completely okay to seek out practical and if necessary, professional support in whatever capacity that means for you. Okay. Now, planning ahead isn't proof that you trust God less.
Sometimes itis one of the best ways to honor the strength in the time that you actually have. The deepest issue might not be with your calendar, it might be that you've been holding on to this for so long and so tightly that you're afraid that if you let it go, everything will just fall apart.
A delayed task.
Can feel like it's disappointing people, it's wasting an opportunity, or is even being ungrateful. Surrender means accepting that you can't control every reaction to your limits. Here's a little secret for you: you can't.
Trust means believing that God remains present and active when you sleep, delegate, simplify, or just wait. And here's a Mic Thumper.
Exhaustion is not proof of obedience. Mm-hmm. That one.
You don't have to sacrifice tomorrow's strength to prove today's devotion.
You hear me? Did you hear me? Okay. Faithfulness isn't doing everything. It's doing what is yours without destroying yourself over what's not yours.
we're gonna do a little capacity sort thing here, okay?
Go grab a pen and a piece of paper or pencil really quick. I'll wait. I'll give you a few seconds. Of course, you can also pause the podcast and then restart when you're ready. Okay? Awesome. Got a pen and a pad or a pen and paper, pencil and paper, marker, whatever. I want you to write down what's pressing on you.
And then sort each item under one of these four headings. Well, mine for now.
Can wait.
Needs help.
Not mine to carry.
You got it?
Good now.
Pause me for a second while you go do that. And then I'll sit right here and wait until you unpause me.
hey, you're back? awesome. All right. Now
Don't add another task yet, okay? I want you to choose one adjustment from the list that you already have. I want you to move one thing, ask for one piece of help, Release one responsibility that was never yours, or protect one period of rest. One adjustment, okay?
Now, the full capacity sort will be waiting for you on this episode's companion page, which you can find over at the website gloryandgritpodcast.com
My friend, if everything in front of you matters, the answer isn't to pretend that nothing matters, right?
It's to ask God for wisdom and order. What is truly mine for now? What can wait? Where do I need help? What am I carrying because I'm afraid to put it down?
You still have a demanding season, right? You might still have an occasional late night.
This isn't a test you pass by organizing your life perfectly. But exhaustion doesn't have to remain your regular proof that you cared.
You're not required to run faster than you have strength. Slowing down doesn't mean you stop following God. So choose one faithful adjustment and trust that God can continue his work while you rest. Again, please remember that there's a companion page for this episode at Glory and GritPodcast.com.
And you can also sign up for the Monday encouragement note called the Walking Note. It's not a study page, it's not a lesson, it's not a full study of anything, it's just a little encouragement to help keep you going throughout the week. Okay. I'm your host, Stephanie.
And thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate it. I appreciate all of your support and your listening and your sharing with others. It means a lot to the show and to me.
So, that being said, if this episode happened to encourage you or was helpful to you, I would love it if you would pass it to someone who might need it as well. Until next time, my friend, keep looking for glory and keep walking with grit.
Bye now.
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