Donna Naborsyour Spiritual jewelry box.

 

Overwhelmed

Anyone else feel overwhelmed? Maybe it’s that stack of mail you haven’t gone through in a week or two. Maybe it’s preparing a holiday dinner for 30 people or getting your house cleaned before they all show up and again after they leave. Maybe it’s that closet that needs to be cleaned out or that garage full of junk. Maybe it’s a new project at work or a financial crisis. Maybe it’s a decision on which college to attend. Life’s situations can be overwhelming.

There are many books and articles written on how to manage an overwhelming task at hand. Large tasks must be broken into smaller tasks to make them manageable. But what about pressures in life that just make you want to stop and do nothing? It’s hard to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Things have gotten out of hand, and you are truly overwhelmed. You feel beaten, crushed, inundated, exhausted, devastated, and overcome. You feel like you have been covered or buried beneath a mass of something. That something could be paper, projects, debt, or emotions.

When I feel overwhelmed and exhausted to the point I want to throw my hands up and give up, I turn to scripture. Does reading the Bible make my stack of mail go away? No. Does reading the Bible complete my work project for me? No. Does reading the Bible make dinner or clean my house? No. Does reading the Bible automatically pay my bills? No. So what good does it do when I am overwhelmed with this life?

Reading scripture overwhelms me. That’s right. Open and read the Psalms or Proverbs. Read in the Old Testament how God delivered His people over and over again. Read in Romans how God showed his love for us by giving His Son to die in our place. I am overwhelmed with God’s love, mercy, and grace. I cannot fathom such a love that no matter what I have done or not done, Jesus loved me enough to die in my place. I am overwhelmed with the wisdom contained in scripture. Everything I need is there. I am overwhelmed by His strength. I am overwhelmed with the peace that comes from the time I spend in His Word. And once I am overwhelmed by God, I am no longer overwhelmed by life. God is my strength, my deliverer, my protector, and my hope. I stand amazed and overwhelmed.

I can’t wait to be overwhelmed each day as I watch how God will OVERWHELM what I thought was overwhelming. God’s overwhelming trumps life’s overwhelming every time. Have you been overwhelmed by God’s love today?