Being Overwhelmed

I want to talk to those of you who are simply overwhelmed by all the “stuff” that is happening to you. I can understand this, at least a little. I mean, even David was overwhelmed by his “unbearable troubles.” Just look at Psalm 55:

“My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me” (Psalm 55:4-5).

Wow! That is intense. In fact, we can search the Scriptures and we won’t find any man of God who talked more about trusting YHWH, than David did. No one talked more about seeking and waiting on the Lord for strength in the time of need. David said that he feared no evil, even though he walked through the valley of death—because the Lord was with him! That is the kind of confidence we should have.

However, David experienced a series of deep and painful situations that did indeed shake his faith. During one low point when everything seemed absolutely hopeless, he cried, “All men are liars!” He was obviously referring to his overwhelming pain and sorrow. All of those promises he had heard about, those words that were supposed to be words of comfort and hope had not come to pass; it all seemed like a lie. Have you been there? Maybe not. Am I the only one who had experienced this?

All of this “stuff” that was happening to David, was an all-out attack on his faith. He was not accusing God of lying—but all the voices coming at him from all sides. David was confused, frustrated and full of despair. He looked for an escape “that I had the wings like a dove, I’d fly away from all this despair and find a place of rest.”

Look, when I talk about being overwhelmed, I know what I am talking about. My wife had cancer. One of my grandsons suffers from continual constipation and how do you explain the pain and discomfort to a youngster, who is only 18-month old? Since my wife had been unemployed for several years, we have suffered severely financially, to the point that we often don’t answer the phone. David was right: “Fear and trembling have come upon me.” (Fortunately, she was hired at the point when we absolutely needed it. No more options were available to us). I could go on and on and tell you about life for us, but that is not important. Our "troubles" are not what is important--it is that our Lord has always been there for us. He has continually taken care of us and provided for every need.

Okay, let me ask you. If you are a believing child of God, what are we supposed to do when we experience overwhelming times? Well, we do what David did.

“As for me, I will call upon God; and He will save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, I will pray, and cry aloud: and he will hear my voice . . . [and] deliver my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me” (Psalm 55:16-18).

That’s right. We go to prayer—steal way and get into the Lord’s presence. Even if you do it quietly, cry out your pain and ask for peace to come on you. However, we must do more than trust. We must stay in God’s Word and pray the promises back to him.

My family and I are walking in faith and relying on God’s faithfulness to his Word. God is good, and has never failed us—ever!

Nickolas