Overwhelmed: Busy Bodies continued…

How many of us have become so busy and weary that we have lost focus?

Most of us live extremely busy lives, no matter what age we are. Sometimes you have to sit back and wonder how we got to this point. So many things in our lives were designed to save time. Faster cars, faster computers, cell phones, microwaves, fast-food, you name it, it was designed to save time. Time for what, though? Instead of taking that time we’ve saved, instead we end up filling it with more things to do. We fill our lives with so many time saving things and strategies that we feel just…..well….. overwhelmed!!!

I looked up the word ’overwhelmed’ in the dictionary. It means ’to be submerged under the weight of something. Or to be overpowered by your thoughts and feelings.’ How many of you have ever felt overpowered and overwhelmed by all the stuff going on in your life? How many of you have ever felt like saying, "Enough is enough! I can’t take this anymore?!!!"

We can be overwhelmed by any number of things. Some of you are overwhelmed with being busy. You have so much going on at work, and so much going on at home. And so much on your plate that you literally feel submerged under the weight of it. You feel overpowered.

Read 2 Chronicles 20, a great chapter dealing with this very subject. Isn’t God Great!!!

As the story begins, Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah. Ruler over the city of Jerusalem. And like his ancestor King David, he was a godly leader.

2 Chronicles 17:6 say that his heart was devoted to the ways of the Lord. In fact, he feels so strongly about his faith, that when he appointed priests and judges throughout the land, he challenged them.

In 2 Chronicles 19:6, He says "You’re not working for me. You’re working for the Lord. So make sure that you follow Him faithfully with all your heart."

Whoa….that’s great stuff right there!

But not too long after this, the king finds out that the country is under attack.

2 Chronicles 20:1 says that "After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to make war on Jehoshaphat." Their one unified purpose is to wipe the people of God off the face of the earth! To kill the Jewish people once and for all! (sound familiar?)

And when Jehoshaphat hears about this massive invasion, we read in verse three that he is alarmed. There’s nothing wrong with being alarmed. Sometimes God wants us to be alarmed so that He might get our undivided attention. But sometimes, people respond by panicking.

They say "I can’t believe this is happening! I’m in way over my head! I’m not going to make it!" And then the person either quits their job. Or they run away. Or they try as long as possible to avoid having to deal with the situation. (I have personal testimony on this one.)

Sometimes we respond to overwhelming situations by trying to handle everything ourselves. We say, "If I was the one calling all the shots to begin with, we wouldn’t be in this predicament! I can solve this problem all by myself. All you have to do is listen to me!" And then we start manipulating people. Telling them what to do. Telling them what not to do. We stubbornly refuse to admit that the situation is bigger than we are.

Panicking is not the way to handle overwhelming situations. And being a control freak is not the way to handle them, either. The way to handle overwhelming situations is to do what the king did. He was alarmed, yet he resolves to inquire of the LORD. And he calls upon the entire nation to come together for a national day of prayer and fasting. In other words, the king is saying, "I am determined to hand this entire situation over to God! I am going to call upon the One person in the whole universe who can do something to change our circumstances!" And in verses 5 - 12, the king stands up in the courtyard of the temple. He’s got all the people praying with him.

When we start feeling overwhelmed by the worries of this life, we need to stop trying to fix everything ourselves. We need to stop fretting over the things that are out of our hands. And we need to put everything back into God’s hands.

One thing we learn over and over again in Chronicles is that when the people of God pray, the power of God is on display. God gave them the victory ’because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.’

What happens here in chapter 20. After the king prays, a prophet of the Lord stands up in verse 14. And he says, "Do not be afraid of this vast army. For the battle belongs to the Lord. You will not even have to fight this battle! Take up your positions. Stand firm. And see the deliverance of the Lord!"

In verse 20, they left for the desert and the king gives them one final pep talk. He puts the singers at the head of the army. He’s saying, "I want my military to be led by worshippers, not by warriors. I want God to know that I have so much faith in Him, that I’m putting the singers ahead of the soldiers."

Now if I was one of the singers, I’d be thinking, "The king’s got more faith in God than I do. I don’t know if I want to go through with this! Maybe I should call in sick!"

But the king said, "Have faith in the Lord, and you will be upheld." So the entire army walks into the desert singing "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever." While this is going on, the Lord throws the invading armies into confusion. And they end up attacking each other instead of the people of God.

And in verse 24, the people of Judah arrive at the desert. They see all the dead bodies of the invading army. They say, Praise the Lord! He did it! He saved us!!!"

The way I see it, it’s so much easier to let go and let God. And when I say that, I’m not talking about letting go of our responsibility to live for Jesus a life that is true. I’m talking about letting go of unnecessary anxieties and worries. who cared about me.

It’s a principle of God. Just the act of telling your heavenly Dad about what’s going on in your life will make you feel so much better.

1 Peter 5:7 says "Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for you."

Some of you are thinking, I’ve been praying about my problems for years. Yet after all this time, I still struggle with the same issues I’ve been dealing with since day one! What do I do now?"

You are not the only one who has ever asked this question.

In 2 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul pleaded with God three times to take away his thorn in the flesh. But God told him, ’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

It may not be God’s will for us to be free from every single problem in this life. We need them as tangible reminders of how much we need God’s help every day of our lives. We can put our faith in the One Person who has already won the battle for us!


Let me ask you this: How many problems in your life have become worse than they needed to be because you didn’t hand them over to God in prayer? How many times have you tried unsuccessfully to manipulate your circumstances when all you really needed to do was to give them over to the Lord?

God loves you so much, that He WANTS to hear your prayers! He wants to handle your overwhelming situations. And He wants to have an intimate relationship with you.

Too often when we pray, we spend a lot of time asking God for what we want. And not enough time appreciating God for being the wonderful Father that He is. We need to say, "I praise you because your love endures forever. I praise You for being a part of my life. I praise You because there are certain battles that I will never have to fight. I praise You because You are out there fighting hard on my behalf.

Because we serve such a caring Father, why wouldn’t we want to praise His name? And why wouldn’t we want Him to help us with the overwhelming challenges of life?

Time to pray!!!

Wonderful Father, we come to you having faith in your awesome love. I praise you because your love endures forever. I praise You for being a part of my life. I praise You because there are certain battles that I will never have to fight. I praise You because You are out there fighting hard on my behalf.
You are totally in control and it’s not about us. Thank you for being there for us all the time and keeping that intimate communication with us. Help us to become busy with your work and not ours.
We pray always in Jesus name. Amen