Week Five - Overwhelmed

Beside the Well

            My week was overloaded.  The pressures of my to-do list, the tiredness of my mind, and my desire to run away from it all had taken over.  Then, the phone rang, and sad news entered the room.  It felt like a big boot had stomped my heart into the ground.  I lay there flat as a flitter sinking in the mire.

            I didn’t try pulling myself up by my bootstraps.  I didn’t shake off the dust.  I went straight to prayer and began claiming the promises of God.  I remembered Spurgeon’s advice, “Sit down at Mercy’s gate, and show your sores, and groan, and sigh.” Don’t be afraid to expose your wounds to Jesus.  He will bind them up Psalm 147:3.  So that’s what I did. 

            “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them from them all,” I began to recite.  “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that put their trust in Him shall be desolate” Psalms 34:19, 22.

            Then, the Lord began to whisper to my heart, “Gail, what are you doing here?

            “Lord, I’m overwhelmed.  Everything around me looks negative.  I feel so alone in it all.  Things beyond my control feel threatening, and there is so much sadness.”

            “Oh, dear one, you are never alone.  I am right here.  Look up into My eyes.  I’m not asking you to solve all of these things, that’s My job.  What I need you to do is love Me and serve Me where you are.  That’s all I ask.”

            My world shrunk back into size, and my heart revived.  The pressure was off!

            “Lord, help me remember that I serve You.  You are the rewarder.  You are the mover of men and situations.  Help me walk alongside You in faith with my head held high, watching to see the steps you have for me and know that I am not alone in a cave, but walking on the King’s highway in good company.”

Spurgeon, C.H., Illustrations and Meditations or Flowers from a Puritan’s Garden, Passmore & Alabaster, London 1883, p 115.