Protection from being overwhelmed

 

Yesterday someone told me that everyone she talks to is overwhelmed. I nodded for I was feeling like that also. My to-do list was too big and interruptions added to my stress. For the psalmist, it was persecution. For others it is concerns in family and friends. Many things can make us feel unable to go on, or wanting to run away:

My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; (Psalm 55:4–6)

For me, I want to dump the list and read a book or have a nap. Others say their escape is ‘clean the house’ or ‘go shopping’ but the better remark was from a person who quoted this verse:

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. (Psalm 61:2)

This made me think about the causes of feeling overwhelmed. Obviously, it is an attack from the enemy who wants to immobilize us with discouragement and get us so battle-weary that we want to stop and run away. One biblical example is Elijah the prophet.

After a confrontation with the prophets of the god Baal, Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him and he ran for his life.

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. He ran from Mount Carmel into the wilderness of Beersheba, where he sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers’”  . . . . “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:1–10)

Several factors caused his emotional state. The first was the victory. It was huge and important, even dramatic. That event must have filled him with elation yet he was no doubt exhausted. This is like most pastors say, the Monday after a God-blessed Sunday worship service is a wipe-out for them. I’ve noted it too, that when God does something wonderful to answer a prayer or surprise me with a great blessing, I’m often emotionally high yet totally exhausted afterwards. I need to take time to rest and be thankful.

Second, Elijah ran to Beersheba from Mount Carmel, a distance of about 95 miles. If he were not exhausted from the emotions of his victory, he would certainly be physically spent from that escape run. Filling our days with more physical work than we can handle and fatigue will be overwhelming, particularly if I add unnecessary tasks to to-do list that come from fear and are not given to me from the Lord.

Another problem for this prophet is that he thought no one cared and that he was alone in his zeal for the Lord. Looking at church problems, the successes of the enemy, and the worldliness that seems to be seeping into the Kingdom will do that if I’m not determined to seek out good news. My prayer lists alone can make me feel overwhelmed. The only way to lift that load is praying with faith and keeping my spiritual armor on, including the helmet of salvation. I also need to connect with others who are faithful to the Lord.

His helmet is my confidence in God’s blessings. For a time after his great victory, Elijah became emotionally, physically, and spiritually spent, and overwhelmed with self-pity as he felt utterly alone. At this, God gave him instructions about what to do next, then told him: “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18)

This was the Lord’s way of urging this man to put on “the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17) and get back in the battle. He needed to know that God had not abandoned him, then focus on what’s next, because that “helmet of salvation” was his protection from despair.

PRAY: Jesus, thank You for reminding me repeatedly that all I have in You is enough. You will never leave me or forsake me, and all Your purposes will be accomplished in my life, even in the trials that come. (Hebrews 13:5 and Romans 8:28) Your character never changes and Your promises are irrevocable!

PONDER: When I feel overwhelmed, check what I do or overdo that adds to the problem. Also read and rely on God’s promises in Isaiah 40:29–31 and Galatians 6:9.