Overwhelmed or overwhelming?
Do you suck at finishing what you start? You might be getting overwhelmed.
From m-w.com we see these definitions of the word overwhelm:
2 a: to cover over completely : submerge b: to overcome by superior force or numbers c: to overpower in thought or feeling
Wow!! That’s loaded with insight.
2 Timothy 1:7 lets us know that God does not give us fear but power, love and a sound mind. At times when we are right in the middle of a work, project, tough schedule, etc. we can look up at the situation and it seems hopeless. When Nehemiah was called to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, he gave people the goal of everyone working on the section of wall in front of their own homes. If everyone did this, eventually the wall would be completed. Halfway through the project Israel’s enemies began to demoralize them and their efforts to rebuild the wall. Judah comes along and says that their strength is gone and there is so much rubble they can’t finish the wall. They got overwhelmed.
Isn’t that interesting? How many times do you get halfway, or more than halfway, through a paper, project, book, and you look at what’s left to do or the mess that’s been made and your energy is zapped?! Just sucked away by the circumstances. The solution?
Overwhelm it.
Nehemiah armed Israel and encouraged them:
Neh 4:14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
4:15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.
Nehemiah’s arming and reminder to focus on God not only shut up the mouth of the enemy but also caused Israel to go back to work and finish the wall in 52 days I believe. They be an overwhelming force.
What’s this say to us? It says do not accept any outer or inner negative influences. Listening to other people that say we can’t do something must end.
For us personally, we can not let our minds or emotions get overwhelmed. In reality, God wants us to overwhelm them. The force we exert with our mouths of prayer, praise and reminding of what God called us to do should blow the whining mind or heart out of the water! It’s funny because we can stir ourselves up so much in the Spirit that the will will work AGAINST the mind and emotions that share it’s space in the soul-part of the soul works against itself to accomplish the task at hand! The heart can be deceitfully wicked and emotions are fickle and both must be kept in check.
Bring the Lord, the Spirit, all of your energy, talent, time, money, friends, and whatever else you can call upon to bare on the problem. OVERKILL!!!!!!!!!!!!! BREAK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLOW IT INTO A MILLION PIECES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do not be overwhelmed. Be overwhelming!
That’s the kind of power Christ had and that’s the power God wants Christians to have. Never give up! Never surrender!