Feeling Overwhelmed is Part of Allah's Plan

Sometimes the feeling of being overwhelmed overwhelms us. We feel like we are drowning -- so many things that have to get done and so little time. Promises we have made, deadlines to keep and the desperation in our minds of, 'how the heck am I going to do all this?' But the amazing thing is that somehow, it always gets done. Why? Because all these things are also from Allah and part of His plan. He only sends them our way because He knows we CAN get them done, and He makes sure that they do get done -- usually in ways that we never could have imagined -- just like the Qur'an tells us (i.e. Ayat seribu dinar). Trust and surrender -- then do the work that needs to be done. These are the words of wisdom that one great teacher spoke that must be referred to at such moments.

That does not mean, however, that we should not from time to time be afraid to say 'no thanks' to people that ask us to do things. We also have to be fair and just to ourselves and those who we have already made commitments to, along with those who have rights over us such as our families and the like. I guess, in the end, this is the delicate balance of life that we must maintain with constant hope and prayer. It's just another sign of how dependent we are on our Lord every moment of every day.

The Blessing of Helping

Alhamdulillah, Allah truly works in mysterious ways. I am often reminded of the gift of Islam by the fact that for no reason that I can think of, I am asked to help someone in some small way - whether it be helping a friend get through a trying time, helping a colleague at work, or helping a fellow Muslim make sense of what Allah has created for them. What we often don't realize I think is that blessings come in the opportunities that Allah gives us to serve Him. So it's not only the more 'obvious' blessings of our daily rizq, our families, our health, our means of livelihood and the like, but that Allah would send someone in need to our door. The opportunity of helping a child that calls on us for assistance, whether it be a child of our own or that of someone else, for instance.

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have - may Allah forgive me - rolled my eyes at being 'troubled' by someone coming to me in need of something. What a tragic mistake on my part! Such incidences are wonderful opportunities to truly put our role as 'servant' to the test. We must always see such incidences as blessings -- Allah has honored us by using us as a tool for His mercy and assistance of another of His creatures. How great is that? But if it is so, I wonder, why is it so hard for us to see it that way? Why, for example, would I even consider 'rolling my eyes' at someone in need, no matter how small that need is? These are some of the things that trouble me about me. It is 'the work' that I need to do. Thank God Almighty I am still alive to be able to do it.