Overwhelmed or Overtaken?

“…O God, listen to my cry! Hear my prayer!  From the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help, for my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for you are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in your sanctuary, safe beneath the shelter of your wings!’  Psalm 61:1-4

As I sit down to write this blog post this morning I am strangely at peace considering some unsettling news I received this past week.  I can almost hear my inner-child in panic mode screaming on the inside, “why aren’t you doing something!!??!!”  And yet, there is this strange sense of peace that envelops me. Normally at this point I would have clearly itemized my concerns and prioritized them by level of importance and had a 10 step action plan of how to handle the situation. Can you tell that one of my spiritual gifts is administration? That’s me. I need all my ducks in a row and the facts neatly organized and a plan of action to deal with any situation. But today I am making a conscious choice to sit in the uncertainty of this situation and just know that God’s grace is sufficient.

Today, I am choosing to let the Wonderful Counselor counsel the counselor. This is not a new concept for me at all. But what is new, in this situation, is that I am choosing to set aside my own gifting and instinct to problem-solve, to instead, seek God before my mind has a chance to form a battle plan. In fact, I am forcing myself to do what I ask of my clients. In my practice, I am learning a theory of counseling called Emotionally Focused Therapy. Research is proving that emotionally fulfilling relationships (whether familial or romantic) are a key component in physical and mental health.  When we use therapeutic interventions to focus on the actual emotions people are feeling—rather than only looking at their cognitive thought processes—we discover that the messy work of analyzing  the emotions can bring true restorative, healing to relationships. But it is painstakingly uncomfortable work to deal with emotions. So today I am sitting in the depth of the many emotions I am feeling, as I would ask of any of my clients.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I am looking at circumstances that are out of my control and yet, I feel strangely at ease. I am processing this emotion of being overwhelmed and contemplating what it feels like. At the root it boils down to fear. What am I afraid of? And how is it that, in the midst of this fear, there is this undeniable peace? There are mixed emotions to be sure! So here I sit in this wave of uncomfortable feelings torn between the two extremes of fear and peace. I am reminded of a quote by Ambrose Redmoon which says, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than the fear.”  I am keenly aware of these emotions flooding around me. I recognize the fear and yet, there is something so deep within me that rises up and over shadows that fear. I know my God is able!  I feel like I am having a Moses kind of experience where the Egyptians are bearing down on his back and he has come face-to-face with the reality of the Red Sea.  Only God can help now.  But God always has a plan. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how…but I know God. He is Jehova-Jireh, my provider. He is Jehova-Shalom, my peace. He is the God that sees. He knows where I am and every circumstance of the situation I am facing…and strangely enough, at the end of the day—that is the source of my peace in this situation.

At first thought, I was concerned that I was getting overwhelmed. But on second look I find it may be that I am overtaken—not overwhelmed at all! It’s as if the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that guards our hearts and minds has embraced me-- the peace of God is present. I am learning that getting to a place of total surrender in our hearts is what it means to allow God to take over and do what only God can do.

We all have choices.  We can choose to be overwhelmed or overtaken. As for me, I choose to abandon my false sense of security in my own wisdom, and be over taken by the Spirit of God. I don’t know what that looks like for you. For me, I am standing with the overwhelming circumstances at my back, and the impossible “Red Sea” before me. I know God has to intervene in some way. I am almost giddy with anticipation—because I know my God! No matter what this looks like in the end result, I will have had a powerful encounter with God that will have forever changed me. If given a choice, I choose to be overtaken rather than overwhelmed.  What choice will you make in this holiday season that is riddled with many obstacles that can threaten to overwhelm you and your family?  It’s like Ambrose Redmoon said, I have discovered something far more important than my fear. I have determined that a relentless pursuit of God and trusting in Him is far more secure than trusting in my 10-step action plan to solve the current problem I have encountered.

Surrendered & overtaken….by a trustworthy God!

Dawn Irons

"LIKE" Dawn on Facebook