Overwhelmed but Not Overcome

Exodus 17:8–16 ESV

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, 16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Overwhelmed — People of Israel are equipped and ill-prepared physically and emotionally for war, but they have enemies that are stopping their progress, how ill they survive?

They’ve left Egypt. They know how to serve. The’ve been programmed to be docile. Any type of militancy has been taken out of them. Earlier in Exodus, we learn that in order to keep their numbers and their morale down, the Pharoah killed the male children. It was a program of subjugation and elimination. They do not have the weaponry and they do not have the mentality. But their are real enemies of progress out there and they are called the Amalekites.

These Amalekites were relatives of Esau. Who was the brother of Jacob, or Israel. So they were relatives who lived in the land that they God had destined for them and saw them as a threat and were ready to take them out.

In the bible, their is a promise that God would settle His people in the land of Israel. That plan we come to discover by the new testament brings not only Israel but Non-Israelites as well who put trust and loyalty in Jesus Christ the greatest Israelite.

But at the time the promise was made the devil in the form of a snake was sitting right there listening to God tell the woman that she has a warrior in her belly.

—Overwhelmed God’s people are ill-equipped physically and emotionally to fight the enemies in surviving the christian walk

I was thinking as I lay in bed with my wife under 2 covers generating body heat to fight off the cold.

12 degree freeze. Loss of electricity. Water freezing the pipe. Grid broken. Politicians pointing fingers. People dying the cold. Water not safe for drinking. Long lines at the grocery store. The loss of life. Anything else? On top of the effects of the pandemic. On top of your normal ordinary problems. On top of life. The feeling of being overwhelmed.

For some of you is job loss. Haven’t been able to find work lately. For some of you is dealign with the pressures of family and responsibility. For some of you, you haven’t felt your best or desired to be your best.

I was the grocery store and I was speaking with a man who just got married and he and his wife were fending for themselves at the grocery store like us. I felt like we had so much in common and there was comfort in our commonality.

But no matter how much you find in common with folk, the fact remains that life can be overwhelming and no amount of grieving together can change that reality. I’ve got real enemies. I’ve got real devils opposing me and I need help. I’m not equipped to go toe-to-toe with a devil that is trying to take out my life, my health, my marriage, my job, my calling.

—We might be Overwhelmed But Not Overcome Yahweh has given himself and his power as a rallying cry to victory.

10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,

---it aint the man, its the many

—record this in writing

— alter of memorial

Jehovah-Nissi

Yahweh is our banner

We don’t rally around an idea or a piece of cloth, but we rally around the universe’s God.

Can I take it higher? Jesus is Our Flag.

We don’t rally around political parties, democrips and rebloodicans. We don’t rally around the American flag or the flag of our different nationalities.

John 12:32 ESV

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

What we rally around and from whom we draw strength from is Jesus himself. Not Jesus the idea, or the picture of Jesus on a piece of cloth. But the man christ Jesus. When they hung him high and stretched him wide. for me he died. that’s love. 3 days later he rose again that’s love. Living in heaven with charge of his armies of angels Jesus.

(1) Write it Down, the problems, and the times that the Lord stepped in.

Sometimes you need to take an accurate measurement of the problems you face in your life so that when He is victorious for you it will make the shout that much louder.

(2) Keep the blood-soaked cross and the empty tomb on your mind. That is where your victory was one.

2 Corinthians 4:8–10 ESV

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

Illustration: D-Day vs. V-day.

We celebrate because Our enemies are defeated and we are living between the inauguration and the consumation.

My enemy of progress, the devil has been defeated and I’m moving forward in my victor. when I feel overwhelmed, the empty tomb is a reminder that this battle isn’t on me, it’s on the Lord. and when it’s in the Lord’s hands its in the best hand’s it can be in.