Overwhelmed

Introduction

In the midst of the present crisis we have likely all battled the feeling of being overwhelmed with anxiety, with fear, with stress, with feelings of hopelessness and frustration.

We are not alone. Many of God’s choice servants also felt overwhelmed at times with the circumstances they were facing. Paul felt overwhelmed when he was dealing with the thorn in the flesh, Peter was overwhelmed with grief and anguish as he wept bitterly after denying the Lord, Moses felt overwhelmed when God asked him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, David at various times in his life must have dealt with feelings of being overwhelmed.

It is almost certain that every child of God from time to time has dealt with these same feelings expressed by the Psalmist David.

It is not wrong for us to feel overwhelmed, in fact our being overwhelmed will often motivate us to turn to God and to increase our trust in and reliance upon Him.

In this Psalm there is comfort to be found. We can draw comfort in the fact that:

God Hears Our Cries (Vs. 1-2a)

It may seem in these days of isolation that there is no one to turn to. It may feel as though there is no one who you can call on but God is ready and waiting to hear from you!

When you and I feel that the circumstances that we are facing are more than we can stand we need only to cry out to God and we have the assurance that He will hear our cry!

-reminds us that we have a great high priest who gives us access to God and invites us to come boldly to His throne.

When stress, anxiety, and fear begin to rise in us, the best thing that we can do is to cry out to God for help.

- be careful for nothing. We can have confidence that when we cry out to God, He hears our cry and will respond.

We make feel that no one is listening or that no one cares what we are going through but God cares and He is attentive to our pleas.

He is never too busy to listen, He always concerns himself with the cares of His children. There is no place or situation in which we are beyond His reach.

God Knows Our Hearts (Vs. 2b)

God understands our emotions and the stress, the fears, and the anxiety that we are facing. He knows our capability for withstanding the trials and hardships of life.

- he knows our frame and understands our weakness and frailty.

He knows how we long for stability and certainty in the midst of the ever-increasing chaos and uncertainty in our world.

It is He who will be our rock, our source of strength and stability in the midst of every crisis we may face. His desire is to teach us to depend upon Him.

We may feel that no on understands what we are feeling or the particular circumstances that we are facing but God knows and understands.

- touched with feeling of our infirmities.

When our strength is exhausted and we begin to falter, God will be a source of stability to keep us from falling.

His strength is inexhaustible and His knowledge far exceeds our own. - heavens higher than the earth. We may not understand the circumstances that we are facing but we can trust that God does and that He is worthy of our trust.

God Has Brought Us Through Trials Before (Vs. 3)

When we look back upon our lives, how often we can see the hand of God working in our lives to protect and provide for us in trying times.

We can look back at the trials that God has brought us through and trust that He has not changed and that He will bring us through this present trial too.

As we consider how God has been right there with us and has brought strength and stability into our lives in the midst of our trials, we learn to trust Him more.

The past victories He has brought should cause us to trust Him in the present.

He has promised that he will never leave nor forsake us () and we can be confident as we face trials and hardship, we are not alone.

God has protected us and provided us as we have face opposition and hardship before and this time will be no different.

Conclusion (Vs. 4)

Ultimately we must learn to abide in His presence and trust (take refuge) in Him.

If we want to find comfort, it will only be found in God. It will only be realized by trusting His sovereign hand regardless of the appearance that things are our of control.

We must learn to run to Him when trials come and difficulties arise. We must learn that He cares for us and that He will protect and provide for us in the midst of them.