When my heart is overwhelmed.
“From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock [that] is higher than I.”
Have you ever faced a circumstance that paralyzed your response? Have you felt so ‘loaded’ with responsibilities that you don’t even know what is the next task you should attack because you feel like you won’t be able to even complete it? Have you woke up any morning and the thought of all you have to face that day has discouraged you before you even get out of bed?
Welcome to the practical lived-out definition of “overwhelmed” that we find in our text verse above from Psalm 62. The great news is that David gives us in this short verse multiple realities and responses that we can learn from. First, it doesn’t matter what the circumstance is, God is just a cry/prayer away. David states that ‘from the end of the earth’ he would cry to God. Do you think David actually went to the end of the earth? No. But what he was experiencing made it seem as if he was so far removed from being in a ‘right space’ that he used this phrase as a very accurate expression of his true feeling. When you feel you are too far - too burdened - too overloaded to get back to a ‘right space’, cry out to God and tell Him exactly how you feel. Secondly, how you respond to circumstances is directed by where you put your trust - or in this case - in whom you put your trust. David says ‘when’. He understood that these times had come and would come again, but he determined his response before the crisis. He determined that he would ‘be lead to the rock’ - His relationship with Jesus Christ and what that relationship would provide would be a rock he could stand on to steady his feelings and remind himself that in Christ he was secure and safe. Why? Because Christ was far above his circumstances and could direct him with wisdom and strength. Stability in Christ in a sea of emotional overwhelm lifts the paralysis and strengthens you for the tasks and challenges ahead.
How are you feeling right now? Overwhelmed. Take a moment in prayer and reflection to remind yourself of who the LORD is to you in the middle of your overwhelm and rest firmly planted on the Rock that is Jesus Christ.