God is Not Overwhelmed

There was a moment last month when I was feeling stretched beyond what was comfortable; I was squeezing out a "Yes" to the Lord when everything inside me was saturated with fear and self-interest. I text a friend about how overwhelming it all felt, as we waited for the response to our "Yes."

Embedded in her reply I read the words "God is not overwhelmed." 

The squirming panic inside me took notice of those words. Their truth washed over me and calmed me. Suddenly this difficult, overwhelming thing had a champion whose hands hold the universe and whose might and wisdom never fail. This situation didn't take him by surprise. He saw the path before us and went even before our "Yes" to make a way. Slowly I let in the courage to lay down more of myself and trust him to walk beside me. 

Then, even more quickly than the situation had surfaced, it disappeared, but the "Yes" has remained. God used it to push back the encroaching tide of self-interest and leave space for new opportunities to trust him.

Since that day the words "God is not overwhelmed" have resurfaced again and again in my mind. The last few years the Lord has given me phrases and verses to focus my year around (2016, 2017), so this year I am claiming the truth and the promise of "God is not overwhelmed" along with Isaiah 40.28, which says, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? the Lord is an eternal God, the creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary. There is no limit to His wisdom."

Admittedly it doesn't take a giant, life-altering situation to plunge me into the deep waters of life, overwhelming me with how impossible it feels to keep my head above water. More often than not, the day-to-day can feel more overwhelming than the occasional monumental issues. And the fact is, that it actually is impossible, save for the rescuing hand of Jesus, who never succumbs to the waves, whose feet can walk on the surface of the deep, whose hands created and hold it all. 

Today God is not overwhelmed. Tomorrow's troubles won't leave him tired and weary. Even the rest of the days of the year can't find the end of his wisdom.