When things become overwhelming, and we feel the need to stop, there are usually a few responses to that moment where it feels like we can’t go further.
The first response is usually to press past it and, you know, soldier on and get it done.
The second response is to completely shut down from overwhelm and just to decide to let it all go into another day.
And the third response, after soldiering on or deciding to lay it all down. The third response is essentially deciding to turn around, to not go forth, and not even try again.
And all of these, they may feel like the right decision in the moment, but truthfully, when exhaustion strikes, and it feels like you just can’t go on, turning to the God who can give you fresh solutions, fresh strategy, and a way out is required. Lately, there has been so much overwhelm and fatigue with personal issues, family storms, and societal issues that it seems like there is no rest.
It seems like there is no way to just be still and receive. There’s no way to simply break free and sit with God. Because of this, it seems like a never-ending train of headline news, anxiety, fear, anger, rage. These emotions are being pushed by what’s happening in a societal frame, in the political frame, and even in some of our churches. There’s so much that is happening. Turning the world off is a necessity.
Yes, it may feel like you’re giving up, and yes, it may feel like you wish you could do more. None of that matters if you press your way into heart issues, high blood pressure, frustration, exhaustion, tiredness, and this overall feeling as if you’re alone, as if God doesn’t hear you, and as if you’re figuring things out on your own.
There is a strength that comes in the pause. There’s a peace that comes in the pause. Psalm 46:10 in the King James Version tells us the power of being still. Psalm 46:10 in the King James Version states:
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. - Psalm 46:10 KJV
To be exalted, to be lifted, to be revered above the circumstances and above the noise. That’s what the Lord is saying here: that beyond everything, He is God and the world will know that He’s God. The world will know that He is supreme.
Right now, the world is going through birthing pains. Society is going through birthing pains in a reset. There is so much that’s happening, even in relationships. It seems as if the enemy will be successful in destroying families, in destroying legacies, and isolating us one from another, but there is something greater.
It is the power of reclaiming the kitchen table. The power that comes in reclaiming the backyard. The power that comes in reclaiming the family outing. Reclamation of our God-given identity in this season is a necessity. Empowering on and soldiering through won’t help. Becoming overwhelmed and shutting things down, that won’t help either.
Deciding to go back and maybe to just settle inside of whatever season God is delivering you from, that will not work either. This season requires a press that goes beyond the moment. It goes beyond the strength that you have. This is truly a demonstration of the scripture that tells us that when we are weak, this is when God is strong.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, it gives us a stark review of what God desires from us when things become too much, when you’re tired, and you just want to give up. And it reads:
9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 KJV
This is what God wants to show us this evening, that when you feel like you can’t go on, you are exhausted, you are tired, you’ve come to the end of yourself, that maybe that’s exactly where God wants you to be. Just resting and trusting in him, letting go, and letting God have complete authority, complete control, and remembering that when you’re weak, God shows himself strong.
So, instead of feeling like you just have to push through or like you’re just not doing enough or like it’s too much, just know that it might be just enough for God to get through to us. It may be just enough for the Lord to capture your attention and to have you to lean in to Him.
The pressure and the resistance and the exhaustion may be just enough to stop us from this headlong, up and down, control-centered life of to-do lists and check marks, and it may be just enough to bring us into the place of being still, of surrendering it all to God and walking with him from a place of complete ease and complete peace that defies logic.
It defies all understanding. That is the power of the season that YOU may be in. When you are tired and you don’t know how much longer you can go, celebrate. Give God the glory that maybe this may be. He wants you to turn to Him and seek a new way. Maybe this is your permission slip to let go, not abandon it, but turn it over to the King who always had control.
You were always in the palm of His hand. Nothing can separate you from the Lord. Not one thing in the earth can separate you from the love of our Father. Jesus says this in Romans 8:38-39 in the King James Version, and this states:
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39 KJV
Nothing can separate you. Nothing can take you out of His hand. Nothing can take you away from the Lord. Nothing can take you away from His Spirit, and nothing can take Him away from you. So turn to God. Know that the weakness is actually a reason to celebrate, to glory in your infirmities, because that’s where God shows himself mighty.
This is when God steps in. You’ve come to the end of yourself. It’s tiring, it’s exhausting, and it feels like you should just give up. There’s another way, a better way. The scripture tells us that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV).
Now is the time to walk that out, to believe that he is God, and to know that he is able to do what he said he would do. May the Lord bless you and keep you in all of your ways. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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