How
often in life does one feel surrounded and overwhelmed by their circumstances?
The agony and despair that result seem to cast one into the depths of defeat. In such a state one feels that circumstances
are insurmountable and they see no way of escape. The defeat and misery they experience
casts them into a dark depressive state from which they feel they will never
emerge.
Years ago there was a television variety
show called “Hee Haw” The show featured country music and humor in the
fictional rural "Kornfield Kounty." Those old enough may recall that one
of the popular sketches featured weekly was a segment that highlighted the
gloom and despair four old hillbillies felt in their life. In this segment the
cast members would begin by singing, “Gloom, despair, and agony on me-e! Deep
dark depression, excessive misery-y! If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no
luck at all! Gloom, despair, and agony on me-e-e!” After their mournful chorus
a cast member would recount a humorous reason for their misery. This was then
followed up by the previous chorus and end with the four geezers sobbing uncontrollably.
Viewers would laugh at this but deep inside many viewers realized the chorus
really categorized their life.
What things are overwhelming in our lives?
Sometimes it is a financial crisis. Perhaps it is family tensions. Possibly a
medical crisis appears out of nowhere. Maybe a betrayal in a friendship is one’s
undoing. Sometimes the challenges of being a teen or a senior citizen is
perplexing. Often troubles we encounter are because we live in a sin-effected
world which produces nonstop cascading crises. Whatever the source, the sense
of being overwhelmed is, well, just overwhelming.
There is a story in the Old Testament of a
person who encountered a situation where he felt surrounded and overwhelmed by
his circumstances. The account is recorded in 2 Kings 6:8-23 concerning the
prophet Elisha and his servant. Elisha was becoming a pest to the king of Syria
and the king determined to eliminate him. The king sends a great army along
with horses and chariots at night to surround the city of Dothan where he
discovered Elisha was located. The prophet’s servant gets up in the early
morning and finds this vast army surrounding the city. He quickly discerns
there is no escape route and concludes things are hopeless. He runs to the
prophet desperately crying, “Alas, my master what should we do?”
Ever felt like Elisha’s servant? You face
an insurmountable enemy and from what you can see, there is no means of escape.
The situation is hopeless and desperation and despair quickly fill your life. In
the story you see what the servant needed – another perspective. Elisha looks
at the same circumstances the servant did but with a different God-comforting
perspective. Elisha’s faith-filled perspective allows him to comfort his
servant with these words, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than
those who are with them.” Then he prayed for his servant, “Lord I pray, open
his eyes that he may see.”
Perspective changes everything – both
positively and negatively. The Scripture continues, “Then the Lord opened the
eyes of the young man, and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots
of fire all around Elisha.” The resources the servant had not seen became a
visible. They are a comfort to a distraught young man overwhelmed by his
surrounding circumstances. The situation was the same but the resources he now
sees alters his perspective giving him renewed hope in the face of them.
How often we need an attitude adjustment
by seeing our circumstances in light of the God-given resources surrounding our
lives. The Bible reminds us of many of those resources. God surrounds us with
His love. He says to His children, “Nothing shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). God promises
His presence, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"
(Matthew 28:20). God encourages us in our anxieties as the Apostle Paul writes,
“Let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians
4:6-8). God is the great shepherd to His children and the Psalmist reminds us
that, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”
(Psalm 23:4). What great resources to keep in mind as we face life’s
overwhelming circumstances.
In life we may be overwhelmed by our
circumstances, but we do not have to be overcome by them!
