The last few months have been challenging.
Actually the last several years have been difficult. My body seems to want to age despite my demands that it doesn’t. It’s needed lots of maintenance and suffered lens transplants (which are often referred to as cataract surgery). Kidney stone removals have required seven different rounds of anaesthetic. There has been ten years of pain that was recently fixed in one move with a rubber ring. And I carry COPD as well as Diabetes type 2.
Little things like ants invading my kitchen, washing machine playing up add to the dynamic. Or bigger things such as someone in my large family having a medical crisis, and our business expectations being knocked for six.
Diabetes has been a slave master over me for about thirty-five years. I’ve been determined to defeat it… but it keeps advancing slowly with quiet aggression. So, when a few weeks ago I finally agreed to take daily insulin injections, something in me cracked. Disappointment flooded in as I read the instructions and warnings that came with the drug and the needles. Tired I crept to bed and tried to pray. ‘Lord. It’s all too overwhelming.’ I could feel hopelessness, or was it defeat, pushing me down.
~~~I am never overwhelmed~~~
A quiet thought penetrated my spirit.
Of Course God. Nothing is too much or too big for you. I grabbed my phone and posted on Facebook. ‘Nothing is ever big enough to overwhelm God.’
Next morning I woke pondered the promise that God is in me and I am in Him. When I’m in God, resting under His wings, overwhelm can’t access me. For nothing is impossible with God. My life was once again in balance.
In life we do get overwhelmed whether by a battle or a task… or even a thought. There has been a giant strelitzia in our garden that needed to be removed. A task seemingly too big for us oldies. Overwhelming! I’d tried to get someone from Marketplace land to come and take it away but job was too hard for the three who tried. Today one couple dug out three suckers. A small start, but enough to remove ‘impossible’ from the task. Steve has just come in to say he has removed it – done the huge overwhelming task, ignoring the fact he’s in his eightieth year.
As common as it is in our lives, overwhelm is only a word used to describe a feeling. It is not a fact. Overwhelm, like all the enemies works, is largely smoke and mirrors. Once a hole is knocked in it and a start is made, it dissipates. The overwhelming threat at the Red Sea gave way to Moses’ faith and determination as he held out his staff in obedience. The army that threatened Elisha and his servant seemed less threatening when God opened the servant’s eyes so he could see the angelic army. (2Kings 6:16)
‘Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them’.
The impossible task of feeding five thousand on the hillside was easily achieved after Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven. The food multiplied in the disciple’s hands as they distributed it in faith and obedience.
Even Jesus felt overwhelmed when faced with His last task on earth – the call to lay down His life as a sacrificial lamb. But He overcame. How? By crying out to His Father in the garden, fixing his eyes on the goal and thus finding enough courage to take the first step. (Luke 22:41-44)
When I look at these stories I notice a common theme.
- Focus on God
- Remember the God in you is never overwhelmed.
- Ask Him what’s really happening and to open your spiritual eyes.
- Pray and Worship
- Start.
Overwhelm is like hope deferred. It makes the heart sick. I can’t afford to entertain it. Its aim is to destroy my peace, my faith and even my health. So I thank God for His blessings, even an insulin needle a day.
Hi Jo,
Thank you so much for reminding me that God is never overwhelmed.
Hi is always our God of peace, despite our circumstances.
My overwhelm comes with the little ‘foxes’, like fear of being late for a specialist appointment when I can’t find a park, or worse still, can’t find the correct room! Lol. It seems such a small thing, yet it causes me a moment of panic, until I stop and ask God to direct my paths.
He always does. Always.
Praying for you Jo, that as you deal with your health issues, you may be surrounded by His perfect peace.
Carolyn Tonkin.
Thanks Carolyn. He is so big and wise always with us. I’m so thankful for Him in me. ♥️🧡♥️
Thanks for this. It was a real blessing. 🩷
Hi Jo, I love your closing paragraph:
“ Overwhelm is like hope deferred. It makes the heart sick. I can’t afford to entertain it. Its aim is to destroy my peace, my faith and even my health. So I thank God for His blessings, even an insulin needle a day.”
I’m also looking at a future issue with type 2 diabetes (we can delay the onset but we usually can’t stop the genetic factors coming into play if we live long enough, even if we’re disciplined with diet and exercise…) and I have a needle phobia which makes the whole idea of daily shots a terrifying prospect.
It’s the small decisions we make each day that can really matter. I take responsibility for what I eat, how much I exercise, how well I sleep etc. I won’t relinquish control in making those choices, especially food choices, that are best for my health. If that means I miss out on doing things eg. attending an overnight or weekend event where I don’t have a range of food choices, for example, then so be it. I need to prioritise my physical health as well as my emotional and spiritual health.
It’s overwhelming if we dwell on it and let the fears take hold. I’m thankful we have God walking with us through the struggles in life. Thanks for your encouraging words. 😊
I got to that overwhelmed and frustrated state yesterday. I had a nerve block last week in the S2 dermatome (in the butt) for post-herpetic Neuralgia (from shingles). The injection site has been sore but at 6 days I thought It should be feeling so much better. I know there is some improvement the pain is still there but different the feel of sitting on rocks is now more just pain from sitting. Then someone suggested we do something for a group I am Secretary off and I almost lost it. I said if you do that then I will be resigning at the meeting. I am sure she things I am joking but the stress from these fundraisers has been adding to the pain and it would be the straw that breaks this camels back. I have had Occipital Neuralgia and chronic daily migraines for over 13 years now so know when I feel like this I will come good. I don’t stay down for long and I know God has this but it is hard. As you know constant pain is very wearing.
Narelle mentioned not going to events or planning them out due to food etc. I am one who needs their own room. I need and ensuite not just my own shower I need the whole ensuite with the toilet as well. I struggle to share a room because I know I don’t sleep well and especially if I have to travel I tend to deal with cramps and depending where they hit it can take ages to calm it and then I need to be up and walking around. I am also one who needs a nap and often not 20 mins a couple hours having a single room I can do this. I cant in shared accommodation. We all know how we cope. (right now just getting in and out of a car is difficult cos the leg doesn’t work right.
God bless you Jenny, for your faithful trust in Him, and for sharing your journey so as to encourage us to trust Him too. And yes, for some of us seemingly simple things like a shared room at a conference are obstacles we cannot overcome. We are who God made us, and we are fit for his purposes even in our limitations.
Thanks Julia right now I am still overwhelmed. I know it will change, maybe not the pain but the coping skills. When I went to a friends wedding I realised the accommodation maybe upstairs at that stage the Achilies was really bad and I couldn’t climb stairs (still can’t) thankfully a phone call and a little more money I got a nicer room (more motel style). I am one who has been to other conferences and paid for a single room and have been to a couple of retreats one in Canada where I shared with someone from the group. (I spent a lot of time around 4am in the lounge cos I couldn’t sleep) and one in Washington state where many shared a room but I know how tired I would be so had a room to myself. Gone are the days I would share with people I don’t know and even if I do I tend to need my own space.
Jo, thankyou for sharing your heart. Your descriptive words paint a picture of what you are going through. I too can relate closely with overwhelm. After years of assignments for a Bachelor of Counselling, I can now put one of the causes of overwhelm to bed. But other little foxes of overwhelm like to rear their little heads. I’m working on getting things done earlier so I don’t have to put myself under pressure. Giving myself a fake and early deadline is something Ive talked of doing but never followed through. Isnt it wonderful that God is never overwhelmed??? Thankyou for your post