Overwhelmed
by Tanya Person
I was thinking about the feeling of being overwhelmed recently, as I have friends who are feeling overwhelmed about various things. The old chorus by Maranatha came to my mind, ‘When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I,’ which is taken from Psalm 61. That is such an encouragement for us to look to the Lord who is our rock!
As I did a word search of ‘overwhelmed’ in the Bible, I found that in addition to people being overwhelmed by fear and their enemies, being overwhelmed does not always have a negative meaning.
Isaiah 61:10 says, ‘I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God!’
In 1 Kings 10, the Queen of Sheba was overwhelmed by Solomon’s wisdom and all he had.
2 Kings 4 tells the story of Elisha raising the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead. It says she was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Job endured so much, but in Job 19 it says he was overwhelmed at the thought that he will see God with his own eyes.
In the Psalms, David talks about being overwhelmed by a desire for God’s regulations and overwhelmed with indignation for those who disregarded God’s words.
In the New Testament, people were overwhelmed and amazed when Jesus raised a girl from the dead, crowds were overwhelmed with awe when they saw Jesus.
Then I remembered how people are talking about the new photos from space that have been captured by this new powerful telescope, allowing us to see further than we ever have before. I was overwhelmed at the thought that, when God created the world and the stars, He put things into space that He knew we would only be able to see once we had this new technology. What an amazing God we serve! When we think about all we have from our Heavenly Father to be overwhelmed by, may it put our other struggles into perspective.
Tanya Person Tanya and her husband, Jim, were missionaries to Hungary for over 18 years. They have worked with Ellel since 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where they are now serving with the Ellel USA team. They have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom, and for mentoring the existing and developing team. Tanya also enjoys crocheting and knitting in her free time and has written some children’s picture books.
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