"I'm too intense for people. My emotions, my needs, my personality—it's all too much and I overwhelm everyone around me."
How it sounds in your head: You've always been too loud, too emotional, too needy. You see how people pull away when you're really yourself? Even your own family looks exhausted by you. You need to shrink, be less, apologize for existing.
"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."
-- Zephaniah 3:17Enemy assignment to silence the very passion God designed, plus years of being told women should be smaller, quieter, more contained.
She's watched people's faces change when she gets excited or needs support. Hormone shifts in her fifties have made emotions more intense, and she's been told repeatedly—by culture, church, even family—that she's 'a lot.'
She'd been bleeding for twelve years, desperate and 'unclean,' pushing through crowds to touch Jesus—completely 'too much' by cultural standards. Jesus didn't rebuke her intensity; He stopped everything, called her 'Daughter,' and healed her IMMEDIATELY.
I REFUSE the lie that I'm too much! IT IS WRITTEN that God rejoices over me with singing—He doesn't flinch at my intensity, He CELEBRATES it! My emotions aren't a burden; they're a gift from the One who created me. IT IS WRITTEN that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and that includes every passionate, deeply-feeling part of me. I am not overwhelming; I am ALIVE. The BARAK blessing of Abraham covers me—I am blessed coming in and going out, and that includes bringing my whole self into every room. I am the Father's daughter, and He runs toward me with JOY, not away from me in exhaustion!
The Father sees you in all your intensity and doesn't ask you to dim. He's running toward you with the robe and ring, throwing a party because you ARE fully alive—that's exactly who He created you to be, and He wouldn't change one thing.