Overwhelmed by
Life
Life can
be overwhelming at times, can’t it? There
are so many things that can happen; there are so many problems that can come up;
and when they all arrive at once a person can feel completely overwhelmed. I would imagine that almost everyone in this
room (maybe with the exception of the really little children) knows exactly
what I’m talking about! There have been
moments in your life when you did not know if you could stand up under it
all! And it probably happened for a variety
of different reasons depending on who you are and what time of your life we’re
talking about. Maybe one of the reasons
you felt so overwhelmed was a health issue or a family issue. Maybe it was a problem with your income,
overdue bills, or unexpected expenses.
Maybe it was a catastrophe, an accident, even a death. Maybe it had to do with all of the extra
responsibilities that had suddenly been thrown on your shoulders whether you
were ready for them or not. Maybe it had
been building up for a number of years.
Maybe it all came crashing down in one day. Maybe it’s reoccurring. Maybe it’s something you’re dealing with
right now. In any case, life can be
overwhelming at times… for everyone. And
we are all affected by it in different ways.
Some of
us are those who feel weighed down by it all.
It seems to press down on your shoulders and you feel as if you are
struggling to keep your head above water as all of the problems and
difficulties swirl around you. And your
mood gets a little darker and your mind gets a little cloudier and your energy
just isn’t there anymore. And it’s a
little overwhelming.
But then
there are others of us who are affected in almost the opposite way: instead of
feeling weighed down, you get worked up!
You get flustered, tense, wired.
You wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what’s going to
happen tomorrow. You can’t get your mind
off of what’s going on during the day.
You can’t calm down, you can’t relax, you can’t even seem to catch your
breath. And it’s a little overwhelming.
Whether
you’re someone who gets weighed down or someone who gets riled up, someone who
stresses out because you’re frantically trying to juggle all of the balls all
at once or someone who gets depressed at how many of those balls have fallen to
the ground already, everyone gets overwhelmed at times in life. Even the strongest of Christians.
Overwhelmed by
the Assyrians
King
Hezekiah was a strong Christian. He was
a man whom Scripture says “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” And we have seen examples of that the past
four weeks. But even this godly king was
overwhelmed at times. And maybe no more
so than when King Sennacherib came pounding on the door. King Sennacherib was the king of the
Assyrians. And at that time they ruled
the known world. They could do just
about whatever they wanted to whomever they wanted. In fact, when King Hoshea, the king of the
northern land of Israel, rebelled against the Assyrians, the current Assyrian ruler
brought his army over and completely annihilated the northern kingdom of
Israel, sending the Lord’s people into exile.
That was ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel that the Assyrians just
walked over! And the two tribes of the
land of Judah were next. Hezekiah was
king in Jerusalem when all of this was going on and there was nothing much he
could do to stop it. He had only a
fraction of the fighting force that the king of Israel had at his disposal and they
hadn’t even slowed the Assyrians down.
And by all accounts Sennacherib wasn’t the kindest of kings either. He made those he conquered pay for their
disobedience: he humiliated them, he mutilated the, he tortured them, he burned
down their homes and ripped them away from their lands. And now he was standing on the doorstep of
Hezekiah’s kingdom, ready to do the same to him. What was Hezekiah supposed to do? What do you imagine was going through his
mind? Who wouldn’t be overwhelmed at a
time like that?
But you
have heard the rest of the story already.
You know how it ends. Should
Hezekiah have been overwhelmed? Should
he have been anxious about the outcome?
Should he have worried at all? “That night the angel of the Lord went out
and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and
withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.” The Lord struck down 185,000 soldiers with
the snap of his fingers! In the blink of
an eye 185,000 thousand problems that Hezekiah had weighing down on him disappeared. Sennacherib left and he never came back. No war, no siege, no capture, no exile. Not one sword was drawn on either side. God took care of it - and he took care of it
in a way that no one expected.
Overwhelmed for
No Reason
And so I
ask you again: should Hezekiah have felt overwhelmed? The Lord had everything under control the
entire time. He knew what was
coming. He realized what was going to
happen. And he was powerful enough and
loving enough to make it right. Should
Hezekiah have felt overwhelmed at any point?
Should you?
When we
are overwhelmed by anything in this life - no matter what it is - we are
struggling with a serious lack of trust in our powerful and loving Lord. At those particular times in our lives when
we are weighed down or worked up, we are in that state partly because we are
relying too much on ourselves. And I say
that from experience! “I have to fix
it. I have to deal with it. I have to find a way through it. I have to manage it. I have to overcome it…” Instead of calmly saying “The Lord will fix
it. The Lord will deal with it. The Lord will get me through it. The Lord will manage it. The Lord has already overcome it,” we are
absorbed in ourselves. As if we were in
control. As if it were up to us to
figure out a way to make things right.
Are we that forgetful? Or are we
that bigheaded as to think that we are the be-all and end-all of what happens
in this life? Where are the Lord’s
promises in all of that? What about his
power? What about his love? No wonder we get overwhelmed! If we are relying on our own abilities to
deal with the messes around us, of course we’re going to find ourselves way in
over our heads!
Overwhelmed by
Christ’s Love
But it
is at those times when we find ourselves way in over our heads when our loving
Lord does an amazing thing: he reaches over and grabs all of the balls that
we’re trying to juggle and the dozens that we’ve not managed to keep in the air
at all, and he throws them deep into the tomb that he left empty. And then he takes all of the weights off of
our shoulders that have been burdening us for years and he hangs them on the
nails of his cross. And then he bends
down and lifts us out of the water over which we could not keep our heads and
dries us off in the waters of baptism. And
he leads us to sit down at his table where his body and blood are waiting for
us; and in a very real way he calms our nerves; he eases our worries; he soothes
our hearts. He massages out all of the
kinks and the knots with his forgiveness; he strengthens us with the powerful
promises of his Word; he assures us with the guarantee of life forever with
him. This is what Christ’s love
does. And it’s all a little
overwhelming, isn’t it?
When we
are in pain he points us to the pain he experienced in our place, making the
physical problems we are going through seem like nothing more than scrapes and
scratches. When we are struggling with a
family member he reminds us of the wrath he took from his own Father because of
what we did and who we are, making our relationships on this earth seem trivial
in comparison. When we can’t seem to get
around the corner, when we can’t seem to get out of a rut, when we can’t seem
to get over a death, Jesus takes us to the place of his death - and then
immediately leads us to the place of his resurrection. He shows us what really matters, what is
really important, what is really going to last.
And suddenly what we thought was so pressing isn’t anymore and what we
thought was of such great magnitude is really only a blip on the radar. Christ’s love is a little overwhelming, isn’t
it?
Overwhelmed by
God’s Power
But then
he takes you to places like the city walls of Jerusalem during the days of King
Hezekiah to show you something different.
Because there he puts on display his absolute control over all of the
enemies of his people as he wipes out 185,000 thousand warriors with a
breath. And then he takes you to a boat
sailing on the waves of the Sea of Galilee and lets you listen in as he calms
the storm with a stern command. And then
he leads you by the hand to stand with the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel and
Isaiah as he gives them visions of the almighty strength and glory and majesty
of your Lord and Savior. God’s power is
a little overwhelming, isn’t it?
And then
he promises you: “I will hold you in my powerful hand. I will guard you with my powerful arm. I will protect under my powerful wing. No one, no
one will be able to take you from me.
And nothing, nothing will be
able to distract me from you. I have
taken care of it all. And I will always
take care of you.”
As your
pastor and as a Christian who honestly has a genuine concern for your soul, I
wish I could say that because you are a Christian, because you trust in God’s
power and love, you will never be bothered by another problem again. But you know that’s not true. You’ll have problems. In fact, as a Christian, you will have more
problems than most. But those problems
do not have to worry you; they do not have to cause you sleepless nights; they
do not have to weigh you down; they do not have to be overwhelming at all. Because the power and love of your Lord is
more overwhelming than anything this world can throw at you.
Being a
Christian does not solve all your problems, but the one in whom you believe
does. And that is why you can be so
positive, so confident, so calm. The
Lord who brushed away 185,000 enemies with the back of his hand in a single
night is on your side. The one who
stared death and the devil and hell itself in the face and won is in your
corner. The one who sits on the most
glorious throne there is in the realms of heaven is your holy Brother. You have nothing to fear! You have nothing to worry about! God has taken care of it all. And at any point in this life when you start
to feel overwhelmed and you go to your Lord in prayer, he says to you just what he said to King
Hezekiah so long ago, “I have heard your prayer… I will defend you and I will
save you.” And that’s exactly what he’s
done time and time again. And it’s all a
little overwhelming, isn’t it?
Amen.
“The peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.” - Phil. 4:7
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