We live in a world which has been described by many as a time of overwhelming situations
overwhelming concern that's not a word that we used a lot until recently a lot of people today
are overwhelmed we all know the troubles of the world have a way of seeping into our lives even
as Christians and we get overwhelmed by these problems the issues of life can inundate our
personal world so we don't know which direction we're going and even though we know Jesus Christ
if we don't stay focused on the principles of the word of God we can get lost and wonder sometimes
how we ever get back we get overwhelmed by you know our marriage breaks down that you were
never thinking would do that a child goes off the rails maybe you lost somebody that you loved very
very dearly a business fell apart I mean there is so much to get overwhelmed by and I have to admit
I've been in full-time ministry for over three decades and I have never seen a time
on the earth like I see today where everywhere I go doesn't matter what continent I'm on what
country that I'm in people are just overwhelmed you know one of the most common complaints
that people have in today's modern world is this sentence you know I just often feel
overwhelmed I feel overwhelmed and there's really a lot to feel overwhelmed
about because there's too much of everything in our world there's too much information
there's no way you can keep up with all the information that's going on there's too much
news you don't need to know all the news that's going on in the world but it's everywhere there
are too many emails too much social media shoot there's too many toothpastes in the grocery store
and it can just be overwhelming a lot of people are overwhelmed by debt they're just in debt
they go I'm never going to get out of debt I'm never going to get these loans paid off
and I'm I'm just overwhelmed a lot of people are overwhelmed by work I can't keep up there's too
much work to do and I just seem to get further and further behind and I never get a break
and I'm I'm worn out the bible talks about a lot of people are overwhelmed by regret
they're overwhelmed by shame or by guilt in fact you could be overwhelmed by any emotion
you can be overwhelmed by worry a lot of people are overwhelmed by insecurity
and the more insecure you are the more you try to control the things around you
you can be overwhelmed by loneliness you can be overwhelmed by grief
you can be overwhelmed by anger resentment bitterness you can be over overwhelmed by worry
and what do you do when you feel overwhelmed financially physically
when you feel overwhelmed by conflict this marriage is going
south it isn't going the way I want it to go we're not a we're in a stalemate right now
we're living in the same house but it's not happening what do you do when you feel overwhelmed
turn to God for help I'm going to turn to God first often when we
feel overwhelmed we start planning now planning's good and you ought to plan but you ought to pray
before you plan you need to turn to God before you turn to your plan prayer
should be your first choice when you feel overwhelmed not the last resort okay now
personally for you there's no problem too big for you to pray about and there's no problem
too small for you to pray about if it's big enough for you to worry about it's big enough for you to
pray about if it's small enough for you to worry about it's small enough for you to pray about it
the second thing I do is I focus on God not the problem but it all depends on what you focus on
and when you pray you turn the focus off of the problem I don't have enough money I don't have
enough energy I don't have enough help I don't have enough wisdom I don't have enough opportunity
you turn yourself off the problem and you turn it on to the solution who is God Corey Ten Boom
the the author from the Netherlands wrote if you look at the world you'll be distressed
if you look within you'll be depressed because a lot of things I don't like about me but if you
look at Christ you'll be at rest it all depends on what you've got your eyes on if all you're looking
at is the negative and the problems in your life guess what you're going to be feeling overwhelmed
when I'm feeling overwhelmed I need to focus not on how big my problem is but on how big God is
the bigger you realize God is the smaller your problem seems problems shrink
when God expands in your life the bigger your God is the smaller your problems are and so
the first thing I need is remember that God is all-powerful that God is in control that nothing
is too hard for him that with God all things are possible second I remember what God has done
in the past and I realized you know what I've been through a lot of tough times and I survived those
and God helped me through other times in the past so certainly he's going to help
me through this one and I remind myself I recall I recollect I remember all the ways
that God has helped me in the past I know who you are and I know what you've done
you need to remind yourself of these two things when you feel overwhelmed God is a
big God and God has helped you in the past this is what the Lord says to you who are overwhelmed
do not be afraid do not be discouraged for the battle is not yours but Gods
the reason why you're tired all the time
is because you're trying to fight battles that belong to God and you don't have the
energy you don't have the knowledge and you don't have the power and you're trying you're
acting like your God if it's to be it's up to me and you're frantically trying to make it happen
and you get tired you are trying to fight God's battle God says did I ask you to fight these guys
no all I ask you to do is trust me have I not promised do I not take care of you
have I not taken care of you in the past it's not your battle it's my battle see this is why we get
into problems the problem is not your problem the problem is you think it's up to you to solve it
and and so we go out there and we're such fixers and when we see a relationship problem we try to
fix it and when we see a financial trial we try to fix it and we try to fix the world we try to
fix the office and we try to fix the faults in other people's you can't fix the faults in you
why are you trying to fix them in somebody else and we're always just
frantically trying to control and the more insecure and the more out of control your
life feels the more controlling you become and that doesn't make you a nice person to live with
and so we go out and we try to fix things on our own instead of turning to God we think it's our
battle and then we inevitably fail and we come crawling back to God and we say oh God I'm so
sorry we got our tail between our legs I'm so sorry God I I really failed God I've I've
really let you down and God says no you didn't let me down because you weren't holding me up
You didn't let me down because you weren't holding me up you don't hold God up he holds
you up you don't help God God helps you you didn't let God down because you weren't holding him up
He says it's not your battle in the first place it's my battle and this is why
you're tired all the time you're not holding up the world and you're not holding up God
this is what a lot of you are doing with your problems
are you tired are you tired of facing all these battles on your own
and and you're really if it's true you're about ready to say a God um
I don't know how much longer I can do this in fact Lord I'm on the verge of giving up
and God will say to you great it's about time now we can get something done
once you realize you are not in control of your life you think you are are you kidding me you
didn't choose when you were born where you were born why you were born you didn't choose your
parents you didn't choose your natural giftedness you didn't choose your death most of the biggest
things in your life you didn't choose your natural talents they were totally beyond your control
about the only thing you can change control is your attitude
and that you do have 100 percent control over and you do have control over how much you choose to trust God
but say God I just give up and finally God says well great now we can get something done
God says first relax it's my battle it's not yours and the second thing he says is
I'll handle it God says this to you when you bring him the thing you feel overwhelmed by
he says relax I'll handle it that's my job how many times have I told you
the antidote to stress is to repeat three times God is God and I'm not
God is God and I'm not why does God tell you to not get upset when you're in overwhelming
situation question if God is fighting the battle and he's told you to stand still and watch
has God question has God ever lost a battle
no God has never lost any battle that he chooses to fight God doesn't lose battles
he's God God wins God doesn't lose battles that he chooses to fight so what he's saying here you
don't need to worry about this you don't need to get upset because you're on the winning side
and there are things that are evil in the world and that we have to oppose but God says ultimately
we win in the end I don't know what's overwhelming you today
you you may be a single parent trying to hold it all together God bless you
you may be all torn up inside with all kinds of different emotion
discouragement depression fear anxiety worry
resentment I don't know and you're just about to explode on the inside or maybe the pressure
at work of I cannot get it all done and I cannot keep up financially it's just wearing you down
and you may be at the point saying uh God I just feel like giving up and God says great
why don't you do that right now give up and give in
I I give up trying to win on my own power
because I'm tired instead I surrender myself and I surrender my situation completely to you