We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. – the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 1:8)
Have you ever felt simply overwhelmed? Overwhelmed beyond your own ability to endure? Have you ever thought, “I’m not going to live through this?”
I have. Truthfully, I feel more overwhelmed now than I did the immediate days following my son’s death. For weeks I haven’t had to do anything on my own. I didn’t have to function. I had help with the house, the children, the meals. I had lots of people to sit and weep with me.
But now, almost six weeks later, I feel like life is supposed to resume. And I’m not ready. I feel overwhelmed by living. Dirty dishes overwhelm me. Laundry overwhelms me. Scheduling and planning overwhelms me. The phone ringing overwhelms me.
Yesterday I had some words spoken to me that I needed to hear. I think these words were from God’s lips. “It is OK to be overwhelmed.”
It IS OK to be overwhelmed. I don’t have to handle this. I don’t even have to pretend to handle it.
In my day of grief yesterday, another wise woman said these word that grow sweeter to me every time I read them, “I grew up thinking I was supposed to do the job and present it to God. Then He would pat me on the head. But God wants it a better way. He says, let Me do it, let Me assist you. Then you stand back and say ‘Father! You are awesome!'”
That’s what Paul said.
We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 2 Cor. 1:8-9
In this moment, I need to stop trying to handle life. I need to stop relying on myself. I need to practice so that I can learn to rely totally and completely on God. On my God, who raises the dead!
Leave a Reply