"Overwhelmed"

The dictionary describes the word “overwhelm” as being upset, submerged or overthrown. You could say that to be overwhelmed means you have lost or been buried.

The Apostle Paul said that he was: (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)
hard pressed on every side – but not crushed
perplexed – but not in despair
persecuted – but not abandoned
struck down – but not destroyed

Often when I think I’m going under or when I have suffered a set back of some kind, the feeling that I have is that I am overwhelmed. When this happens, I just want to sit down right where I am even if it’s on the floor and just give up. I imagine it would be like that last moment just before you drown or when you are about to lose your grip while dangling high in the air just before plummeting to the ground.

I believe that though Paul FELT perplexed, his experience with God and more importantly, the Word of God told him different: that he should not despair. That when he was perplexed (didn’t understand why he was going through his challenges), that “God’s ways are higher then our ways.” When persecuted, he undoubtedly remembered that God’s Word promises persecutions but that God never abandons us while we are suffering through them. And that when he was struck down, knocked to his knees, that he was not destroyed and that he could by God’s power, get up again.

I want to turn the word “overwhelmed” into a SIGNAL. When we begin to feel overwhelmed, that is the time to turn the tide and overwhelm the enemy, overwhelm our circumstances, conducting spiritual warfare by using the Word of God! And if we are having difficulty releasing scripture from our mouths or going into effective prayer, then let’s get some music going to overwhelm our negative, depressive and defeated thoughts or maybe some group prayer.

One of the most important things that we must do in order to be able to speak up and rise up the way Paul did, is that we must overwhelm our own feelings, emotions and human understanding with the reality of God’s Kingdom in the light of His Word.
Another more common word in the Bible which is similar to “overwhelm” is “overcome.” Here are some scriptures to start overwhelming our emotions and circumstances with (all in NIV):

John 16:33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
· What did Jesus say to do? “Take Heart!” That means BE ENCOURAGED!
1 John 4:4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 5:4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
· A hint on this one. You can’t overwhelm the world without FAITH
1 John 5:5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
· Come on! You gotta believe it right NOW. It will be easier to believe it if you will start confessing these scriptures.

Another word that I associate with “overwhelmed” is “HELPLESS.” Helpless is how I feel when I’m overwhelmed. I get to a point that I realize that there is literally nothing else that I can do to affect or change a circumstance. This is how the flood victims here in Manila felt while they were watching their possessions destroyed or when a mother held the lifeless body of her drowned child. It is how the Father of a household feels who has lost his job and comes home after spending the day looking for a job with no good news and with no groceries and the family is going to go to bed hungry. This of course is more severe in the nations of the world with no welfare system. If they don’t have relatives with resources, they will eventually die of sickness or starvation.
Here’s the one I personally don’t love to experience: You have a deadline... maybe to pay something. You have been praying and praying and have truly done your best. You have believed that God would not allow His name to be tarnished by you being late. (Have you ever tried to use that one on the Lord? I have!) “God, you said that I am the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower!” And you really “felt it” while you were praying it!
Then the call comes from the landlord or the finance company and you find yourself saying these words. “I’m sorry but I simply don’t have it. I promise to pay as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.” Then you hang up the phone (or worse, close the door) and that flood of despair comes. That unmistakeable disappointment that comes even causing you to question yourself. “God? Whatever it is, I’m sorry. Show me where my mistake was... I repent... Please help me to pay these bills, to find a good job, to manage my resources better.”
Some of you are probably wondering what it is that prompted me to write this. Well you are right that normally when a minister touches a subject, they have recently had dealings within the range of that subject in recent times whether they are willing to admit or not. OK... I’ll share :-)
I have a wonderful guy in my life who is a prayer partner and he has been used by God at times to supply our financial needs. He sent me a message several weeks ago saying that he was sending a donation of $300. Awesome! But it never arrived. He then sent me another message asking if I had received the $3,000. One zero makes a huge difference. I of course worked it out with him so that he was able to re-send the donation in a more reliable way. I was ecstatic that the $300 was a typo and that it was going to be 3K because that is really what we needed. We had recently come to the end of our financial rope having run out of funds and having only 30% of the support we need to survive. This large donation meant that we could go for probably three more months, a cause for many shouts of praise at our house!
When the funds arrived this morning, I found out that the typo was reversed from what I thought. The $3,000 was wrong and it really was $300. I immediately started thanking God for the $300 which is an amazing blessing. But at the same time, I started to wonder where the other $700 I have to have by tomorrow and the many hundreds more I will soon need will come from. It seems too late because international miracles take time... There went my human thinking again and I successfully turned a blessing into a mental struggle. I spent the next couple of hours battling that defeated feeling. I felt overwhelmed, helpless. I started wondering if maybe God isn’t with us here. If we need to go Stateside and hang up the ministry hat until this terrible economy gets better, if it ever gets better. I started to feel sorry for myself and started counting the number of letters, E-mails and messages I have sent to friends and people close to us asking for help that have not been answered. Not even a “no” or an “I’m sorry but we just don’t have it Pst Steve...” Ignored. Helpless. Overwhelmed.
I started crying in the car during the commute on the way to school with Ethan sitting beside me asking me, “Daddy, what’s wrong?!? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who it is and I’ll beat them up!” He is in that phase right now and it actually made me feel better.
But it’s not about feelings is it... I wrote this post and now I have read it for myself. I needed this! I hope you get something out of it too, but even if nobody ever reads it... it has already done me a world of good! I have been confessing and proclaiming these scriptures and I have been overwhelming my emotions and the devil himself! Then I received another green shoot in my wilderness. An SMS (text message) arrived at just the right time. Someone who I haven’t heard from in a long time said that even though he is going through a difficult time right now and just had his first baby, that God has told him to support our ministry $100 a month! My God! I needed that encouragement at just that moment! My little tears of depression turned into huge tears of joy and gratitude!! With that, we reached 40% of the support we need. Only 60% to go!
Just a few hours ago, the 70% seemed impossible but now 60% seems so within reach! What a difference FAITH makes!
I still need that miracle, but I know that it is en route and that though God seldom is early, He is never late! His timing and his method of distribution is perfect! I’m so encouraged right now that I want to run around the block several times and I probably will just as soon as I finish writing!
For those of you who have prayed for us, who are partnered with us and for those who have communicated, even saying “no” or “not at this time,” I want to say thank you so so much! You are awesome! For those of you have happened upon this post, please consider becoming a part of a mutual miracle and supporting our ministry. We need some pretty fast help. Thank you for your kind consideration my friend.
For more information about our ministry and the breakdown of our financial needs, please visit www.pastorstevemckinney.com . Details on how to send a donation are also listed at the top right hand side of this blog.