Does your heart ever feel overwhelmed? 

My heart is often overwhelmed by commitments, expectations, disappointments and difficult relationships. 

Are you ever disheartened by your inability to meet everyone’s demands and expectations? 

Some days my heart vacillates between being raw with paralyzing frustration … and simultaneously stimulated by a thousand agitations.  

Continuously … the floods of demands … disciplines … people … habits … chores … vices … and commitments … create a massive swamp in my life only described by one desperate word. 

The word is “overwhelming”! 

The call of life is just so deafeningly loud sometimes … isn’t it? 

David the worshipper … the man after God’s own heart … shares my incompetence at dealing with all that life dishes out. 

“Hear my cry, O God; Give heed to my prayer. 

From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is overwhelmed; 

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 

For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy. 

Let me dwell in Your tent forever; 

Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.” 

– Psalm 61:1-4 

Psalm 61:1-4

Although I do not know what specifically overwhelms you … the source of your staggering circumstances may be much different than mine are … I can assure you the answer for both of us is the same. 

“Hear my cry, O God!  Give heed to my prayer.” 

When you are overwhelmed, take it from David:  the first necessity is to cry out to God.   

We need prayer more than we need our circumstances to change.   

Approaching my infinitely gracious God … Who is lovingly attentive in all His ways … reminds me that I am not in charge.   

There is Someone mightier and more powerful than I am Who is more than able to bring relief to every stressful storm in life. 

“From the end of the earth I call to You, when my heart is overwhelmed!” 

There is no sin in calling out to God when you are completely and utterly overwhelmed … as a matter of fact … crying out to God might be the most righteous decision you could ever make. 

When you are overwhelmed … you will be tempted to assuage the storm with eating … spending … escaping … binging … sleeping … or with entertainment. 

Those options will never satisfy you … they might hide the pain momentarily … but there is no long-term healing in those options. 

Have you ever mistakenly believed that spending … eating … being entertained … going to the spa … or responding with your emotions … is what you need to conquer the overwhelming circumstances and events of your life?   

Those momentary choices are deceptive distractions; they possess the same healing power as a miniscule band-aid would following open heart surgery. 

“Lead me to the rock that is higher than I …” 

The second word of advice discernable in David’s prayer is … we all need God to lead us.   

We need Him to take us by our human hands and then to guide us with His divine hands to a higher place.   

The Lord always wisely leads His children to a more secure vantage point than the circumstances of life can offer.   

The benefit of standing on a rock that is higher than I am … is that I am then above my circumstances and therefore can see them from heaven’s perspective. 

One of the most destructive mistakes that any of us can make during moments of overwhelming madness is to be led by our emotions.   

Anger and impatience will do damage to relationships that may be difficult to repair.   

I must humbly realize that my emotions often lie to me but God will lead me in triumph even in overwhelming times … especially in overwhelming times. 

“For You have been a refuge for me, a tower of strength against the enemy …” 

When you are feeling overwhelmed, declare who God is rather than focusing on the irritations and annoyances. 

Remove your eyes from your circumstances and set your mind … your mouth … and your gaze on the only One Who can help you!   

God is your safe place – He is your refuge. 

He will strongly protect you against the enemy forces of busyness … difficult relationships … a failing economy … health challenges and disappointment.   

You serve a God who is more than able! 

“Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings.” 

There is no safer, more peaceful place to be than abiding in Him and with Him.   

When I linger in His presence and enjoy the safety of His Word, the overwhelming things of this earth truly do grow strangely dim.   

When His nearness overshadows all that loudly calls my name, I am at peace at last.   

The life that He gives is the life that I have dreamed about and longed for. 

His presence miraculously empowers me to face another day of the demanding details of life.   

The Word of God powerfully protects me and shields me from the rapid fire of life’s demands.   

Prayer helps me to focus on that which is eternal and not on that which merely stirs up a raucous in my life. 

So … the next time you find yourself in overwhelming circumstances … run to Him and all that He is!   

Perhaps we should resolve to take a break from this mad, mad, mad, mad world … and set our hearts on where it has always belonged … in Him. 

While others are juggling the voices … the tirade … and the insistence of this temporary world … I will be the one with my hands in air … my gaze fixed on heaven … crying with gut-wrenching desperation, “JESUS! HELP!” 

Thanks for listening to my heart this week.  As you know by now, my heart is truly not a perfect heart but it is a heart that is filled to overflowing with gratitude for the life I have been given and for the people who walk with me.  And, it continues to be a heart that is relentlessly chasing after God and all that He is. 

Carol McLeod

Carol says, “I am just a girl who is head over heels in love with Jesus ... passionately addicted to His Word ... and find all of the joy that I need in time spent in His presence." Carol is a Christmas-aholic, loves ACC basketball and the beach! Like all menopausal women, she is overly fond of chocolate and enjoys a good read. She doesn't like cleaning her house and is an expert in carry-out dinners. She hates to shop … loves to jog … and somehow finds time in her busy life to hang out with small children. She is the kind of woman that you could laugh with over lunch, cry with over disappointment and shout with over a victory! But … if you need her official bio … read on! Carol is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. She also hosts highly successful Just Joy! outreaches. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren! Carol has written three books, "Holy Estrogen!", "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart" and "Defiant Joy!" which was released by a subsidiary of Thomas Nelson. Her teaching DVD, "The Rooms of a Woman's Heart", won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award, for excellence in religious programming. Carol has also been featured on YouVersion (the smart phone Bible app) with several devotionals, including: "For the Journey Set Before Him", "Jolt of Joy", and "Joy to YOUR world", " Carol has a daily radio program, "Defiant Joy! Radio" which is available in several national markets including Youngsville PA, Warren PA, Buffalo NY, Roanoke VA, Norfolk VA, and Nashville TN.  A 1977 graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Music and English, Carol has the distinction of being both the first Women's Chaplain and the first woman to speak at the university's Vespers.  Carol currently serves on the ORU Alumni Board as chaplain.  She is married to her college sweetheart and love of her life, Craig, who serves as senior pastor of Life Church, a church near Buffalo, NY.  Craig and Carol have been happily married for nearly 37 years and are the parents of five children and three delightful daughters-in-law. Craig and Carol are thrilled with the joy of being grandparents to five precious grandchildren!