What to do When You’re Stretched Thin & Spinning All the Plates

As a momma of 7, I know what it is like to be juggling all the plates and trying to hold on to each one so that nothing falls by the wayside. We have all gone through busy seasons of motherhood—the times when it seems like we can’t just stop and catch our breath because every moment is so hectic. Today’s good word is like a cup of cold water: The Lord is with us even as we are dashing from one activity to the next without a pause in sight. It’s a joy to welcome Becky and Susan to the farm’s table today…

Guest post by Becky Thompson and Susan K. Pitts

I closed the library book and placed it next to my seven-year-old Jaxton’s bed. I prayed for him and gave him one last big hug before I turned out the light and closed the door behind me.

I had enjoyed spending this time with him, but at the very same moment, I wondered whether I had spent enough time that day with my other two children.

I thought about how I hadn’t had a proper conversation with my husband in what felt like a week. I recalled all the work I needed to get done before I turned out my own light for the night.

Truthfully, I’m rarely the momma who reads her kids books before they go to sleep. With two in middle school, it’s not often that anyone even wants me to read them a bedtime story anymore.

This season is full of practices and ball games in the evenings. I dart from one moment to another, handling one crisis after another, dealing with one more unforeseen situation after another.

I love this life God has given me, but I’m forever juggling the plates—each representing something or someone I’ve been entrusted with.

I’m often so focused on not letting any of them fall that I sacrifice my own peace of mind. I sacrifice my own rest. I let my own heart break to bits with worry and guilt in order to protect each precious plate from peril. 

“When you seek Him, He will provide all that you need to face whatever may come“

Do you relate?

In moments like these I need Jesus to speak directly to my heart. I long to hear Him speak gentle words of grace, like these: My love is enough. My hope is enough. My peace and My presence are enough. I keep the world spinning, and I hold everything in My hands. As you run from need to need, remember that you’re not God . . . I am. So ask Me for help because I’ll give it. Ask Me to intervene because I will. Allow My strength to move through you. That’s the only way juggling plates don’t fall.

Right now, it’s possible to lean into the truth that God will help you with each task in front of you:

When you seek Him, He will provide all that you need to face whatever may come: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:33-34, bsb).  

Tomorrow as you move from need to need, person to person, task to task, ask God to help you with each one as it comes. Stay focused, not just on what is right in front of you but on who is with you as you get it all done.

Let’s pray . . .

Tonight we pray for us of us who are juggling all the plates. Lord, she takes care of so much.

Whether she’s focused on her children, her spouse, her job, or maybe her health or other issues, she keeps going every day, all day until she collapses into bed at night. Then she dreams of what she left unfinished as she waits for the juggling to begin again in the morning. There always seems to be more to do. 

Tonight, Lord, we ask that You grant each woman peace and rest so she wakes strengthened to face tomorrow. Help her to be kind to herself. Help her see You helping her with what must be done. We ask in Jesus’s name, amen. 

Father, remind me that You have a firm grip on me and all these plates.

Discover hope for all of your midnight moments of motherhood.

In Tonight We Pray for the Momma, USA Today bestselling authors Becky Thompson and Susan K. Pitts offer one hundred devotions and prayers for the hard and heavy seasons of motherhood.

Susan K. Pitts is coauthor of the USA Today bestselling Midnight Mom Devotional. She serves alongside her daughter Becky as the codirector and prayer team leader of the Midnight Mom Devotional online community, a ministry dedicated to leading millions of moms in nightly prayer.

Becky Thompson is a USA Today bestselling author and the founder of the Midnight Mom Devotional online community, a ministry gathering millions of women in nightly prayer. Her ministry focuses on restoring peace to the anxious woman’s heart, inviting women into an encounter with God’s presence, and teaching women about the life-changing power of prayer. Through her books and dynamic online resources and courses, Becky connects women to the hope found in Jesus alone.

God is with you in the moments when the light feels dim and you need peace, and He will meet you in His love, sustain you in your journey, and bring you hope in the dark as you open the pages of Tonight We Pray for the Momma.

{Our humble thanls to Tyndale Momentum for their partnership in today’s devotional.}