As We Wait …
Overwhelmed or Overcoming?
Does your life have an “overwhelmed” button that gets pushed upon occasion? Mine does! And I’ll go a step further … I also have a “freaked-out” button. Oh wow … and I just thought … when there are days of this in succession … I have a “shut-down” button as well.
As Americans, I believe that we get so used to the pace of “overwhelm” [in reasonable doses] that it seems normal. It is the escalating of it that pushes me to “freak-out!” And wondering why … why do I keep circling this mountain?
What tends to freak me out most is my computer. It can be a helpful tool when I’m doing what I know how to do on it. It’s working for me. But when I get a strange and threatening computer message [from who knows where] or I have a deadline and something’s not working technically and I feel pushed over the edge, my computer is calling the shots and I feel like a helpless slave to it! This state of mind leaves no room for creativity.
What I picture is the big red button on the wall of a factory. In an emergency it is quickly pushed to stop all the machines. Something is not right! Everything needs to cease and re-group before re-commencing. And it feels like that’s where we are as a nation right now. That HUGE red button on the wall of the Factory of America has been pushed and we’ve been shut down, giving us time to re-awaken, re-think and re-evaluate before any re-commencing begins.
When I have a computer meltdown, after I calm down a bit, creative thinking begins to emerge. The Lord brings two precious words to my mind … “Mike Gayle.” Of course! Mike Gayle! [an uber-technical CCV Elder] Hearing his calming voice, “Hey, what’s going on?” at the receiving end of my call … begins his “talking and walking-me-off-the-ledge!” And in no time my crisis is resolved! Thank you, Mike!
Thought: What was a crisis to me was not a crisis to Mike at all. Hmmmm, I remember times that I’ve talked a child or a friend off-the-ledge [even Steve on rare occasions] who were in a crisis that was not a crisis to me. Surely, we all have had opportunities to do this; sometimes without even realizing it.
Upward-Thinking: Nothing is a crisis to the One Who created us and holds all things together by His powerful Word. [Hebrews 1:3 NIV 1984]
“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!”
[John 16:33 NIV 1984]
Endure hardship as training; God is treating you as His children. For what child is not trained by his father? We all had human fathers who trained us and we respected them for it. How much more should we respect the Father of our spirits and live! God trains us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No training seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained. [my paraphrase of Hebrews 12:7-13]
“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].”
[Isaiah 26:3-4 AMPC]
Precious Lord, help me dismantle and get rid of the “buttons” in my life that are not to belong to Your children. And it just dawned on me, that when I’m taken down in overwhelm or freaking out, I’m leaning on my limitations … hoping they’ll sustain me … when all the time I’m wanting to lean on You, Lord. You have no limitations, no time or space when you cannot intervene. You’ve given us all gifts and talents to be used in helping each other, and You can lead us to a particular soul who can turn what would otherwise be a crisis into a solution. Thank you, Lord, for making provisions for our every need … Body, Soul, Spirit! In Jesus’ Name!
Calling all Overcomers in Christ Jesus:
“He who has ears to hear … let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches …” [Revelations 2:7,11,17,26; 3:11-12, 21 NIV 1984]
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
To him who overcomes, and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations –
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. To him who overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of My God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from My God; and I will also write on him My new name.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony! [Rev 12:11]
Remember Whose you are!
Re-awakening,
Roz
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