Are you a people pleaser? Many of us are and for a complex range of reasons. We want to help or to please and not always for the best of reasons. For many we want to please others to make life easier on US! The people in our lives are complex and needy in different ways. Often to get them off our back we try to fix what's wrong or to help.
That burden of being overwhelmed and wanting to fix everyone and everything leads us into misery.
Consider that Jesus (when on the earth) through His Deity knew what the needs were of every human on earth, yet he only helped a few. Christ did not spend his three years in ministry running around frantically healing every person.
There is no algorithm to guide us but something far better, the Person of the Holy Spirit. Through His indwelling presence we can have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16
16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
It is a hard line to follow and sometimes blurred, but we must intentionally in our daily relationship with Christ depend on and listen to him. Our frantic efforts which only work in our flesh will fail, leading to frustration and anxiety.
God is complex, so is life and so are we. In our unique created nature we each carry a glimmer of God's image into the world. Our dreams, hopes, talents and interests if used through Christ help bring the Kingdom of God into your corner of this world. As we learn humility we need to allow other Christians to do their part as well.
Our passions and interests however cannot determine our daily walk with Christ only abiding in Him will do that.
John 15:4.12
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
The details of each of our days falls within God's knowledge and sight. So in learning to say yes at the right time and to say no we must be on the lookout for that interruption or opportunity that God has set before us. We cant do it all as we are limited and finite, For our own health and well being we must often say no and also we should often say yes! In our hurried shortsighted world we often miss what God has presented.
So be aware and observe with care, be prayerful and thankful for the life we have been given and the blessing of helping others.