PSALM 94:19 – When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.
THEME OF THE DAY. BEING OVERWHELMED. Probably not a few of us are feeling today’s theme – being overwhelmed. I am sure we may sit down and discuss the topic at length. However, I wonder if in our conversation, there is only one side of the topic. I know that might seem puzzling but this should help. Being overwhelmed comes from one of two places – overwhelmed with the stress and cares of life or overwhelmed by the Lord Jesus and His marvelous Person, power, and Presence, but I need to qualify this statement. If a person is not a Christian, they only have one source of being overwhelmed and it isn’t good. The second place applies only to the believer in the Lord Jesus, but where the child of God lives overwhelmed is their choice So . . . let’s identify the places where this occurs.
First, we might be overwhelmed with the cares, demands, and anxieties caused by a “do, do, do, on the go always life.” Martha fits the description of an overwhelmed person which really means she has chosen to live stressed-out, exhausted, worrying about everything, and feeling never enough time exists to accomplish all needing to be done. Jesus describes her – Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things (Luke 10:38-41). Be very careful not to let the demands in our physical lives take us away from the spiritual life Jesus came to give. He calls it “abundant life” (John 10:10). When experienced, this life overwhelms us in the right ways – with Him, His joy, and His peace leading us to overcome the stresses and anxieties caused by “do, do, do” lives.
The second place a Christian may find themselves overwhelmed is in the Person of the Lord Jesus. Here is the healthy Christian. Here is where we are to strive to be and stay. Living a life with our hearts and minds overwhelmed with the love, mercy, grace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, forgiveness, steadfastness, and a whole lot more about the Lord Jesus, well, overwhelms us! Or as Peter would say, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). Being overwhelmed with Jesus shows itself by living with a joy “inexpressible” (beyond words) and “filled with joy” (not partially, or half-filled). But now comes the application.
Friends, as I mentioned in the opening paragraph of today’s nugget, we choose what overwhelms us – life in this crazy and sinful world or Jesus. And if it is Jesus, then the Word and prayer are “necessities of delight” to know Jesus. If we neglect scripture and prayer, we just chose to be overwhelmed by the life in this world. Think about it, and may God help us be overwhelmed by Him for His glory and our joy.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to be overwhelmed by Your love and Presence instead of my life and its challenges.”
QUOTE: “Christians choose each day what will overwhelm their hearts and minds; the Lord or life in a sinful world.”