Being overwhelmed.  Most any of our contemporaries may relate to that sensation of drowning in a sea of obligations, appointments, responsibilities, requirements.  It is an odd living we have created for ourselves.  We, who have more and more and more seem to be less satisfied with it all and more easily buried under the pile of our accumulation.

Then come the days of true tribulation:  A loved one dies, a car breaks down during a downpour, a child falls seriously ill, a marriage ends, a job is lost.  “Overwhelmed” becomes something far more deadly.  How do we cope?  Many turn to ingesting any number of chemicals, most attempt to find even more things or activities to divert attention from the nagging pain within.

Do we just exist within the confines of this constant press? Is there any hope? I believe so.  For me, the sense of “this is all too much” is an hourly reality.  If my life is up to me to manage, then overwhelmed is what I am.  If, however, I am simply obeying the clear direction of a wise and sympathetic superior, it is far easier to breathe. I can rest, for he tells me to.  I can have joy, for he provides it.  I can be released from worry, he commands it.  My cares, as real and troublesome as they may be are to be thrown on him.

O to remember who is boss when I am overwhelmed!

“They put on sackcloth, and horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.” (Ezekiel 7:18, ESV)