WHEN YOURE OVERWHELMED

What To Do When
Part 1 of 4
May 11-12, 2002
Rick Warren

Lord, I am overwhelmed, please come to my help.
Isaiah 38:14b (NJB)


God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a
man named Joseph Gabriel appeared to her and said, Greetings, favored woman! The Lord
is with you! Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. Dont be
frightened, Mary, the angel told her, for God has decided to bless you. Luke 1:26-30 (NLT)

1. LET GO ________________________________________

Mary asked the angel, But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin the angel replied
Nothing is impossible with God! Luke 1:34 & 37 (NLT)

Mary responded, I am the Lords servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants.
May everything you have said come true. Luke 1:38 (NLT)

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; dont try to figure out everything on your own.
Prov. 3:5 (Msg)

The Lord will work out His plans for my life. Ps. 138:8 (NLT)

GODS PLAN IS

Often
Often
Always


2. LET ________________________________________

Mary didnt waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a town in Judah in the hill country,
straight to Zachariahs house, and greeted Elizabeth. Luke 1:38-40 (Msg)

You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone If you fall, your friend can help
you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. Eccl. 4:9-
10 (CEV)

Share each others troubles and problems, and so obey our Lords command. Gal. 6:2
(LB)


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3. LET GOD ________________________________________

You are blessed for believing that the Lord would keep His promise to you. Luke 1:45
(GW)

When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you; your troubles will not overwhelm
you. When you pass through fire, you will not be burned; the hard trials that come will not
hurt you. Isaiah 43:2 (TEV)


Where to find strength:

__________________________________________________

Mary responded, Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my Savior! Luke
1:46-47 (NLT)


__________________________________________________

Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often. Luke 2:19
(NLT)

Im overwhelmed with sorrow! Sunk in a swamp of despair! But me, Im not giving up.
Im sticking around to see what God will do. Im waiting for God to make things right.
Micah 7:1 & 7 (Msg)

WHEN YOURE OVERWHELMED
What To Do When
Part 1 of 4
May 11-12, 2002
Rick Warren


I have missed you. For the last four and a half months Ive been writing a book and I was made
to be with people and not with a computer. While I was gone I got many cards and notes from
you and prayers. One of them said, Dear Pastor Rick, I heard you at Christmas and I heard you
at Easter. Have you become one of those lily and poinsettia people? Another one more serious
said, Dear Rick, I need your help. It seems like everythings piling up and Im never going to
get it all done. Just about the time I think Ill catch up another disaster happens. Signed, Your
wife, No!

Maybe youve felt like Isaiah. Lord, I am overwhelmed. Please come to my help.

A lot of things can overwhelm us. Grief, guilt, grudges, worry can overwhelm us,
responsibilities, circumstances This week end as we begin this new series on What to do
When, Pastor Tom and I want to look at What to do When Youre Overwhelmed. Since its
Mothers Day we want to look at the most famous mother ever, the mother of Jesus Mary.
Youre going to hear three stories of mothers in this church who dealt with overwhelming
circumstances.

Luke 1 God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to
a man named Joseph. Gabriel appeared to her and said, Greetings, favored woman. The Lord
is with you. Confused and disturbed [you might circle confused and disturbed] Mary tried to
think of what the angel could mean. Dont be frightened, Mary, the angel told her, for God
has decided to bless you.

When this happened to Mary she was at the most thirteen years old, maybe fourteen. She was a
young teenager. In those days marriages were arranged. When she was engaged to be married
to Joseph he had probably been picked out for her and by the time you were thirteen or fourteen
you were married. So this was a young teenage peasant girl. The angel shows up one day and
says, I know youve never had sex with any man but youre pregnant and inside you is God.
Ok.

How would you react to that kind of news? How would you react to that? I can imagine Mary
going, How in the world am I going to explain this one? Who in the world is going to believe
me? She starts going through the implications. Shes thinking, How do I say this: Hey,
Joseph, guess what? Im pregnant but its not what you think. I dont think she was too
excited about that. How can I tell this to my parents? Mom, Dad Im pregnant but the father
is God. Right, honey!

She had to think through the implications of this news the angel had told her. Joseph is going to
probably leave me. My parents are going to doubt me. The community is going to disgrace me.
My reputation is shot. (In those days you could be stoned for immorality.) I may lose my life.
This is a disaster in the making.

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Shes just a thirteen, maybe fourteen year old little girl. The Bible says she is confused and
disturbed. Well, duh! I guess so. Theres a better word for this overwhelmed. Think about
what she could be dealing with.

First, theres the fear of criticism. Whats everybody going to think?
Then theres the fear of the supernatural. Exactly how is this going to happen? And whats
going to happen inside of my body?
Then theres the fear of in adequacy. Im going to be the mother of the Son of God? You
think feelings of in adequacy would come up? Absolutely!
Theres the fear of change. How is this going to change my life because I know my life is
going to be totally changed?

She was overwhelmed.

What do you do when youre overwhelmed? You do the three things that Mary did. I dont care
today if youre overwhelmed by debt, overwhelmed y fatigue, overwhelmed by stress,
overwhelmed by responsibilities. You do the same three things that Mary did when she got
overwhelming news. A little hint: you do the exact opposite of what you feel like doing.

Mary was overwhelmed when the angel came to her and told her this news. But the angel said,
Mary, youre going to be blessed. Heres the principle: we usually feel overwhelmed right
before were going to be blessed. So if youre feeling overwhelmed this morning in any area
congratulations youre about to be blessed.

What do I do when I feel like my life is overwhelmed? The first thing I do is what Mary did and
its this,

1. Let go of my need to control the situation.

Typically the more out of control we feel, the more overwhelmed we feel, the more we redouble
our efforts. We try to control it more. We hyper control. We micromanage. We use force, we
use willpower to try to make it work.

We do that all the time. Parents do this with their kids as they start growing up and start showing
the first examples of independence. They say, Were not going to let that get out of control so
were going to nip it in the bud right now! Were going to push it down. Were going to put
them on restriction. Were not going to let this get any bigger. Were going to control it right
now!!

So much of the stress in your life is caused by this desire to micromanage everything, to control
everything, to be the manager of the universe. The more you try, the harder you try to control
the things that are uncontrolled in your life the more overwhelmed you feel.

The fact is most of life is out of your control and most of life you cant figure out. The Bible
calls life a mystery. God not only glories in revealing things but the Bible says God glories in
concealing things. God intentionally doesnt tell us certain things about life. Why? To force us
to rely on Him, to depend on Him. So theres some things youre just not ever going to figure
out. You have to let go of your need to control it.
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In Luke 1:34 and 37 Mary asked the angle after she heard this big news, But how? But how can
I have a baby? I am a virgin. The angel replied, Nothings impossible with God.

This is a typical reaction when we feel overwhelmed. Circle the two words but how. We say
but how? How in the world am I going to get it all done on time? How in the world am I
going to make that payment? How in the world am I going to solve that problem? How in the
world am I going to get that person to love me again? We ask the But how? question.

Mary did not doubt what God had said to the angel. She didnt doubt that it was going to
happen. She was just puzzled. She didnt say when the angel said, Youre going to be the
mother of the Son of God. She didnt go, No way! She said, Wow! How? Theres a
difference between No way! and Wow! How? Marys going, How could a virgin have a
baby? Good question. People are still asking that one 2000 years later. Were still going,
How did that happen?

The angels response is not to give a detailed explanation of how this is going to happen. He just
says, Is anything too hard for God? No. God can do anything. He can do everything. So
dont sweat it. Just let go of your need to control the situation.

Heres the principle: whatever is bugging you in your life right now and its bugging you
because you cant control it, you need to understand that although its out of your control its not
out of Gods control. When Mary understood this she stopped worrying and she started trusting.
She relaxed and her response was instant and it was simple.

Notice what she said when the angel said, God will do this. She said in the next verse. Mary
responded, I am the Lords servant. I am willing to accept whatever He wants. [Hear the
submission, the attitude of surrender: I am willing to accept whatever He wants.] May
everything you have said come true.

This is the first secret of peace. I dont care what overwhelms you. The first secret of peace is
let go. Let go of control. Let God handle it. Mary says, Im giving up control. I yield to God.
I surrender to His will. I give it up. Theres a word for that. Its called faith. Shes showing
faith. Shes saying, Ok, God. I dont know how Youre going to do it but I trust You to do it.
Thats a hard thing to do.

Lets admit it. In a crowd this size many of you are control freaks. You have this innate desire
to control everything around you because you know youd make it better. If everybody else
would just let you rule the world everything would be perfect. And if everybody in your family
would do it your way, your business would do it your way, life would be grand. So you have
this need to control. And when you look at things that you cant control or hear of things you
cant control, it just bugs you to no end! Because you have this need to control.

Theres a verse in the Bible just for you. God put it there just for you. Its Proverbs 3:5 Trust
God from the bottom of your heart. Dont try to figure out everything on your own. Does that
sound familiar? I dont have to figure everything out. Thats one of the most important lessons
in life. I dont have to figure everything out. In fact if you try to figure out God youre going to
be severely frustrated because God cannot be figured out. Hes much bigger than your brain can
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handle. And every time you try to figure out why God does what He does youre going to be
disappointed and frustrated because God is not figureoutable! Youve got to let it go.

Look at what God has promised.

In Psalm 138:8 He does not say, The Lord will work out my plans for my life, or The
Lord will work out the plans I want for my life. It says, The Lord will work out His plans for
my life. Circle His. Three facts about Gods plan for your life. You need to know these.

1. Gods plan for your life is often bigger than your plan, because God has a bigger
perspective. All Mary and Joseph wanted to do was get married, settle down, put some meat in
the crockpot and buy a condo! Just have a happy, little comfortable life. God said, No! I want
to bless the whole world through you. It was a slightly bigger plan.

You have an idea how much God wants to bless your life! You have no idea what God could do
through your life if it was totally, completely, absolutely sold out to Him. Not just a part of your
life. But if every fiber of your being belonged to God and you said, God, like Mary, whatever
You want in my life Im willing to have it. Whatever You want, God. You have no idea how
God could use you in great ways. Gods plan is often bigger.

2. Gods plan is often more painful. Sometimes its harder. Sometimes its difficult. Its
often confusing. Often it doesnt make sense. It certainly didnt make sense to Mary. The plan
God had for Marys life was much more difficult and harder than the one she had. Can you
imagine the difficulty of facing the gossip that she did as an unmarried mother who claimed that
God was the Father? Ruthless criticism, I can imagine.

Then when she was pregnant she had to travel on a donkey a long journey to Bethlehem the day
before her delivery. Would any of you mothers like to confirm that that would probably be hard?
On the day before deliver take a donkey ride over a bumpy road many miles, taking two or three
days, obviously that would be very hard. Then youre going to deliver your first baby without
your mother, without a midwife, without hospital or doctors. Youre going to deliver that baby
by yourself as a thirteen-year-old girl in a stable with donkeys and cows surrounding you. That
would be hard. Im sure Mary must have thought a thousand times, Why, God? Why does this
have to be so hard? Ive surrendered to Your plan. Why does it have to be so hard?

God was fulfilling a promise He had made thousands of years before when He had said the
Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.

From Marys point of view this thing kind of came up suddenly. It looked like she was being
ambushed by God. That God said, Out of all the little peasant girls in the world Im going to
pick you, Mary, in Nazareth and youre going to be the vehicle that I use to come into the world
to bless the world. To Mary it looked like a complete surprise, spontaneous. But, no. God had
planned this before the earth was formed. As you read the Bible you see all the genealogies had
been traced back all the way to Adam that the Messiah would be born in the lineage of David.
This was no accident. God had planned what was going to happen to Mary thousands if not
millions of years before.

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Nothing in your life is an accident. Nothing. There is a purpose behind every problem. It
doesnt ever surprise God. He knew everything that was going to happen in your life before it
happened. Even the bad. He doesnt cause the bad. Theres enough in the world to cause itself.
But He takes bad and even brings good out of it. Did God bring good out of the cross? I guess
so!! Did bad happen to His Son? Yes! Did He stop it? No.

So Gods plan for your life is going to be often harder.

3. Gods plan for your life is always better. When you cooperate with Gods plan for your
life you can relax and you can stop being overwhelmed.

God looks at your life from an eternal perspective, not just the here and now. God will always
sacrifice short-term comfort in your life in order to gain long term glory in your life. God will
sacrifice short-term comfort in order to build character in your life thats going to bless you for
eternity. God is not interested in making you comfortable. God is interested in preparing you
for eternity where youre going to spend gazillions of years. He knows whats best and He
knows whats good and He loves you. Thats why being overwhelmed can actually be good for
you. It throws you to your knees saying, God, Im going to have to depend on You. And God
says, Thats exactly where I want you!

Since its Mothers Day, let me ask, how many of you who are parents have ever felt
overwhelmed with the responsibility of parenting? I remember when our first baby, Amy, was
born 22 years ago. I held that little bundle of joy and she let out a scream and she wouldnt stop
screaming. I wanted to say, Stop! I learned right there I couldnt control her. Even though the
next 21 years I kept tell her Stop it! she had her own will just like you do and I do. So one of
the most difficult things in life is learning to let go of your children as they grow up. Especially
when they make stupid, dumb, painful choices.

I want you to hear Mary Lous story.

Mary Lou: My husband and I were blessed with two wonderful, beautiful, precious children,
Amy and Mike. My daughter Amy somewhere between the ages of three years old and her
teen years, my precious angel, turned into a little devil. She turned her back on God
completely and started seeking spiritual answers elsewhere. In retrospect I should not have
been surprised since I did the same thing myself. As Amy grew I watched her defiant
attitude grow strong and stronger knowing that I could not force her to believe the truth.
During a Christmas service that we were attending as a family she turned to me and said,
This could interfere with my karma, and she got up and walked out. I couldnt control her
so I prayed. At other times she would bombard us with that adolescent attitude that has just
enough knowledge to be dangerous, enough energy to be foolish and enough existential
angst to demand to know why I was so weak and why couldnt I see how all religion was
just an opiate for the masses. Again I just kept praying for her. During one painful period
of time we couldnt even mention the name of Jesus without it causing conflict. Shed say,
Dont shove your beliefs down my throat! as if any parent could. We could never actually
do that. I just kept praying.

Eventually we realized that none of our attempts to control Amy would work. The problem
was in her heart. And only God would change that. So we surrendered her to God. We
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stopped trying to control her spiritual life and her circumstances no matter how bizarre we
thought that she was being. In an act of faith and not desperation I let go of control of my
daughter. I realized that only God was in control. He can see the end of everything and how
it will all work out. Even more He actually plays an active role to make all things work out
for good if I trust Him. That even included all the strange and bizarre beliefs that Amy held
to. I finally let the Holy Spirit do the work that I was trying to do. And I humbly let go and
committed my daughter and her soul to God. I prayed and prayed for patience as God
worked in His time and not my timetable.

I will admit it was a long time. Almost ten years. But Gods love and mercy finally broke
through and on April 28
th
of this year two weeks ago Amy surrendered her life, her
heart, her body and soul to our Lord Jesus Christ and made her faith public through baptism.
That was a miracle of giving up control.

In case you think miracles are rare let me tell you about my son Mike. Pastor Rick has
pointed out that in Jesus story the father let his rebellious son go, let him make his own
mistakes and let him face the consequences. The father did all this out of love instead of
bailing his son out. Sometimes you have to let your children hit rock bottom so they can
learn not just about consequences but also about Gods mercy, grace and forgiveness. We
kept praying and committing Mike to God and one day he called very excited saying that he
had spent three hours researching in the Bible and reading through it. He realized that his
body was Gods temple and decided that he would begin to treat it as such. On that day he
asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life. What great news that was. Mike was baptized before
his sister on February 10
th
of this year.

Watching your children learn the meaning of repentance and climb out of the mire and come
home to God and family is the best mothers gift one could ever have. If you have kids who
are still wandering, dont give up hope. Let go of control and keep on praying and expect a
miracle in Gods timing.

The second thing you need to do when you feel overwhelmed is the second thing Mary did and
that is

2. Let others help me out.

I let go of control and then I begin to let other people help me out. Again, this is the opposite of
what we tend to do. When people tend to get overwhelmed they start withdrawing from
relationships. They start pulling back. They isolate themselves. They say leave me alone. I
dont want to be around anybody. I dont want to be near anybody. Let me cry in my beer. Let
me hunker in a bunker. I see it all the time. People start to get a big problem in their life and
they start pulling out of church. They start pulling out of their small group. They start pulling
out of their friendships, backing away from the very thing they need the most in a crisis other
people. They need other people.

This is what Mary did. Verse 39. Mary didnt waste a minute. She got up and traveled to a
town in Judah in the hill country straight to Zachariahs house and she greeted Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was the cousin of Mary. But thats not important. What is important is what Elizabeth
was.
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One, she was a very godly woman. She was married to a priest, Zachariah. She was a very
godly woman so she could pray for Mary. That was a good thing.

Second, she was an older woman. An elder woman so she had a lot more life experience
and she could give wise advise to Mary.

Third, she was also pregnant. In fact, Elizabeth was pregnant with her own miracle
pregnancy. She and her husband had been childless all throughout life and right at the end, God
made her pregnant through her husband (this wasnt a virgin birth) and she was carrying Jesus
cousin, John the Baptist. It was a miracle pregnancy. She was six months pregnant.

So not only was she wise and older and godly but she was just a little bit further ahead than
Mary. Mary was brand new pregnant. Elizabeth is six months pregnant and she can help her
younger cousin to go through this situation.

Heres the point, when youre overwhelmed you need to find an Elizabeth. You need an
Elizabeth in your life. What is an Elizabeth? Heres what you look for:

First, a strong believer. Find somebody who is a strong believer, who can be your spiritual
partner, your mentor, your coassociate through life.

Two, probably somebody a little bit older than you. Theyve had a little bit more of life
experience than youve had.

Find somebody whos just a little bit further along than you are. They dont have to be
perfect. In fact, youll never find a spiritual partner or mentor. You find somebody whose just a
little bit further along than you are and they can help you out.

Everybody needs a partner like that. Guys need a guy partner and women need a women partner.
The Bible says this in Ecclesiastes 4 You are better off to have a friend than to be all alone. If
you fall your friend can help you up. But if you fall down without a friend nearby, youre in real
trouble.

This is why you need to join a church family and this is why you need to be in a small group.
And this is why were never going to stop talking about it. Its not enough to just attend a church
and hear some Bible teaching. You need to get connected. Theres lots of good churches.
Theres tons of them in Orange County. If you want to be a part of this family you need to come
to Class 101 next Sunday afternoon, which is the way you get connected to this church family.
Then get involved in a small group.

And let me tell you when to do it: Do it before the crisis happens. Get connected before the
inevitable problems that are going to come into your life. Youre going to have friends and
loved ones die. Youre going to face illnesses. Youre going to face financial and other kind of
crises in your life. Why not get connected before all that happens so that the support system is in
place?

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When Im out on the patio after each of the services talking to people and somebody starts telling
me their problems one of the first questions if not the first question I ask usually is, Are you
in a small group? Thats what you need. You need the support system there. Youre not going
to have the help you need if youre not connected with a few other people.

Think about this. In this church family here at Saddleback there are well over 50,000 names on
our role of attenders. What that means is that everything youre going to go through in life
somebody in this church has already gone through it. Every single thing youre ever going to
possibly experience in life, somebody here has already gone through it. They can help you if
you get to know them. If you get connected. Theyre waiting there to help you get connected.

If you claim to be Christian fellowship is not an option. Its commanded. The Bible says this,
Share each others troubles and problems and so obey our Lords command. What is that
command? Jesus called it the Great Commandment: Love God with all your heart and love
your neighbor as yourself. When you share other peoples problems and you share your
problems with them and they share their problems with you, you are love your neighbor as
yourself. God commanded that. You werent meant to go through life on your own. I would
encourage you, realize the importance of people around you and develop those relationships
now.

Id like you to hear a great example of that.

Donna: Being a mother with MS has been a constant battle for me. Ive had to fight the feelings
of being overwhelmed almost daily for 31 years, living day to day with the disability as
challenging in itself let alone being the mother of two daughters and doing it all from a
wheelchair. Let me give you a little background. Just as I was ready to be married in 1973 I
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In spite of this shocking news our wedding happened
as scheduled and as time passed we had two beautiful daughters. Over the years my health
began to deteriorate making the role of mothering more and more difficult as I move from
using a cane to a walker and then to a wheelchair. At each stage I felt overwhelmed. I was
determined that in spite of my limitations my daughters would enjoy all the fun activities of
their childhood. So they were involved in dance classes, gymnastics, swimming lessons,
soccer and softball.

But I became totally overwhelmed when my husband had an affair and my marriage ended
after seventeen years. Once again circumstances that I could not control conspired against
me. The pain, the anger and the self-pity I felt was greater than I thought I could bear. How
in the world was I supposed to raise two daughters and struggle with MS at the same time? I
cried out to the Lord what seemed like every minute of every day. And many times I didnt
feel like God could hear me. But looking back I can guarantee you that He not only heard
me but He was with me all the time.

Over the years Ive learned several important lessons in dealing with overwhelming
circumstances. First Ive learned that bitterness is worthless. Complaining will never
change the situation. It only makes you feel worse. You cant hold onto a hurt and be
happy at the same time.

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Second Ive learned is to keep focused on God not my circumstances. My MS not only put
physical limitations on me as a mother but also emotional limitations as well. Being in
survivor mode every day of your life is emotionally draining. Ive had to learn to be grateful
for the good in my life and enjoy what I can and trust Jesus to help me with the bad.

A third lesson Ive learned is to allow other people to help you. God often works through
other people. God never meant for us to be totally independent of each other. We need each
other. Since my disease is now at the stage that Im now unable to care for my daily
personal needs Ive had to learn to depend on others. None of us like to feel vulnerable. But
my situation has forced me to trust and depend on caregivers. You feel very vulnerable
when you have to lie in bed waiting the arrival of a caregiver for up to five hours. I'm now
unable to get out of bed on my own, unable to shower, get dressed, use the restroom, or even
get something to eat. And the thing that drives me the most crazy is when I have an itch on
the top of my head. I have to wait until my caregiver gets there to scratch it for me!

When you cant do even the simplest tasks you learn to value other people unfortunately I'm
afraid that most people never learn this important fact. They take the people in their lives
for granted. Because youre not in a wheelchair you may feel you dont need other people
but all of us need close friends to support us emotionally and spiritually when were
overwhelmed. I cant even being to tell you the love and support I receive every day from
the friends Ive made through the many small groups that Ive been in at Saddleback church.
The friends bring Jesus love right into my life, straight from heaven.

If youre not in a small group here in our church family, let me encourage you to become a
part of one. You dont know what youre missing. No matter what youre going through,
there are other people here who are ready to reach out with the love of God. Let them help
you. It will be good for you and it will be good for them too.

There is no logical, rational, sane reason for you to go through life disconnected from other
believers. There isnt. You were never meant to go through life as a lone ranger. I'm going to
ask every woman to pull out these two inserts in your program. One is Get Plugged In and the
other is Woman to Woman Mentoring Orientation Coffee. If youre not in a small group,
were going to be having some connections. You can pick a day of the week and you can pick a
neighborhood and well get you some information if you drop this in the basket at the close of
the service. The best way to get an Elizabeth is to become a part of this Woman to Woman
Mentoring Ministry Orientation Coffee. I highly recommend both of these to every woman in
this church.

Some of you men are saying, What about the guys? Youre going to have to wait until Fathers
Day!

Dont wait another day. Get connected before the tough times come into your life. Do it now.

Theres a third thing you need to do and thats what Mary did when youre overwhelmed. You
let go of control, you let other people help you and

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3. You let God give you strength.

Circle let. Some of you know God will give you strength but you wont let Him. You act as if
it all depends on you. You keep saying, If its to be its up to me. Or God helps those who
helps themselves. God didnt say that! Ben Franklin said that. Neither of those statements are
in the Bible. In fact, God sys thee exact opposite. Its not up to you. Its up to God. God says,
Let Me help you. Why wont you let Me help you? There are over 7000 promises in this
book. There are hundreds of them where God says, Ill help you if you let Me. You need to
plug in to the promises of God.

The reason why this young little thirteen, fourteen-year-old peasant girl was not blown away by
these overwhelming circumstances is she was a woman of the word. She claimed the promises
of God. She knew them and she claimed them.

The Bible sys this in verse 45, talking about Mary, You are blessed for believing that the Lord
will keep His promise to you. She was calm and composed because she had the promises of
God in her heart. That gave her strength.

One of the great promises you want to hold on to when youre overwhelmed is Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you. Your troubles will not overwhelm you.
When you pass through the fire you will not be burned. The hard trials that come will not hurt
you. On your own strength you may drown, when that food comes. But not in Gods strength.

Where do you get that kind of strength, the kind of strength Mary had? You get it by doing the
same two things Mary did in this text. Where do you find strength when youre overwhelmed?

1. You find it by praising God for His goodness. There is enormous power in praise. It
creates incredible energy. The last four and a half months Ive been locked in a little cubical
room for about twelve hours a day from five in the morning till five in the evening, writing about
300,000-400,000 words. Ive edited it down to about 80,000. I was not made to be in a room
like that. I was made to be with people. If youve ever written on a deadline, you can get what I
call brain block. That is about half way through the day, sitting there in front of a computer
scream and all of a sudden you go blank and start looking for an ant on the wall to talk to, or
anything to distract you. I was overwhelmed many, many times during this writing project. Yet
I knew it was what God wanted. I kept doing it. What I would do is take little praise breaks,
sometimes just fifteen seconds. Maybe thirty seconds at the most and say, God, I cant think
here so I'm going to just stop and praise You. And in about fifteen seconds, twenty-five
seconds Id stop and refocus on God. Get my eyes off the problem and on to the solution. Off
the circumstance and on to the Savior.

Try this. It works. When youre overwhelmed. In the middle of an overwhelming feeling, stop
and praise God for His goodness to you.

Mary did that. The Bible says she said, Oh, how I praise the Lord. How I rejoice in God my
Savior.

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2. The other way you find strength when youre overwhelmed is by thinking about Gods
word. Mary thought about Gods word. In Luke 2:19 it says Mary quietly treasured these
things in her heart and she thought about them often. Mary thought about Gods word.

If you read the rest of that chapter Mary writes a song to God to praise God. When you read that
doing you know that this woman knew the Old Testament. She quotes it extensively in her song
even referring to the song of Hanna an Old Testament song. This woman knew theology. She
knew the Bible. She was intimately acquainted with the Old Testament and shared what God
had done to her.

Why is that important? Why is it important to read, study, memorize, meditate on the Bible
when youre overwhelmed? Because this book helps you sort out whats really important in life.

The reason we get overwhelmed in life is because we treat everything we have to do as of equal
importance and it is not. Youve got a list of ten things youve got to do and some of them are
very important, some are not important at all. Like: Live for God; Love my family and friends;
Buy some new shaving cream; Make the deal; Clean the house. Those are not of all equal
importance. What happens is when you look at all that you have to do you start thinking I'm
overwhelmed. There are only a few things in life that really have to be done. Most of what we
do isnt going to matter even a week from now much less an eternity. So knowing the Bible
helps you clarify your values, solidify your priorities, discover whats important and it makes life
simpler.

These two practices that Ive just mention praising God for His goodness and thinking about
Gods word are guaranteed. I guarantee this is the way to get out of an overwhelming
circumstance. It always works, youve just got to work it.

I want you to hear a wonderful example of it.

Paula: My testimony this morning begins in 1971 when I was united in marriage to a wonderful
man named Jeremy. As we left the church that day we left it to the song, Weve Only Just
Begun. Little did we know the current of events that lay before us. In the years ahead,
Jerry completed medical school and entered his private practice as a physician. I was busy
teaching school and raising three daughters and a son. Life just seemed to be rolling right
along. God was using my husband in a very special way in his practice. He would often ask
his patients, Would you like prayer? Would you like a prescription? Or would you like
both? He was a physician that had a compassionate heart. He wanted to bring healing not
only to the body but also to the soul. In June of 1984 I received tragic news that two college
girlfriends had lost their pastor-husbands in an airplane crash. After hearing the horrible
news I kept questioning God How could You allow this to happen? They too had small
children the ages of my children. I could not imagine going through such an overwhelming
experience. The thought of losing my husband just wasnt acceptable.

Our family had decided to take a trip to Idaho to visit my parents and during that visit my
father and my husband took a hunting trip. I stayed home with my mother and my children.
The evening of the second day we heard a knock at the front door. My mother and I went to
the door and there were two policemen that stood there with words I never dreamed I would
hear, You husband has been fatally shot. I couldnt believe what I was hearing. That was
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overwhelming news. How could God allow this too happen? Jerry was a fine Christian
man, a godly physician and he was helping so many people. God! What about my four
small children? How can I raise them all by myself?

Very difficult times were ahead. I went from days of denial to days of anger. I even went
through days when the escape of sleep was all that I could do. But as I began to listen to
God, I began to feel His strength inside of me. I often thought of the Bible verse that said,
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Of course the process of healing
took time. You dont get over a tragedy easily or quickly. But two things really helped me
when I felt overwhelmed. Parents, family and my church friends who surrounded my
children and me with so much love and prayer. Second, I hid away alone with God each day
to pray and to get into His word. The book of Psalms was a continuous source with
promises of hope and assurance. David would cry before the Lord in pain. And he
expressed anger and he showed God his feelings. But he never ended a passage of scripture
without praise to God. That was such a positive role model to me. Lord, I can complain. I
can tell You that I'm angry, I'm hurt. But I can praise You because I know You love me and
You will take care of me.

During my time of grieving I faced crossroads. I could choose to feel sorry for myself and
be angry with God. Or I could choose to forgive the person responsible for the accidental
shooting of my husband and believe that God truly loved me and would take care of my
children and me.

The road to recovery began with a commitment to prayer and a process of forgiveness. It
wasnt easy. There were many days that I thought I would lose it. If any of you have taken
care of four small children you can relate to what I'm saying. But each day I became a little
bit stronger. The dependence on God also brought me to a feeling of peacefulness and I
became more and more confident in Gods plan for me. While I did not prefer to be alone, I
accepted Gods plan would be my plan. Then in 1989 God surprised me and I was
introduced to very special man of God who was raising two young sons on his own.

To summarize what happen, after much prayer and months of conversation we decided on a
merger. Our families came together to become the Bagby Bunch three girls, three boys, a
dog but no maid. I'm still looking for the maid. Its been twelve years since we married.
These years have been filled with overwhelming challenges and struggles in blending six
children into one family and having four teenagers all at the same time. But the dependence
on God that I had learned from the death of Jerry prepared me for the challenges of life.
Now my husband and I are at the stage of life for we are enjoying the rewards of years of
trusting in God and investing in our relationships. All of our six children are believes and
two of them are serving on church staffs.

In conclusion, I want to encourage you if you are facing something that seems so
overwhelming, God is with you. Trust that He knows best. He can be depended on. I have
experienced the valley of the shadow of death. And as someone who was called to walk that
dreaded valley I know for certain that where there is a certain there is also light.

No doubt in a crowd this size there are a lot of people overwhelmed. You may be overwhelmed
by fatigue youre really tired. You may be overwhelmed by loneliness and theres an ache
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inside your heart. Or any other number of things that could be overwhelming. Regardless. Take
these steps that Mary did: Let go of control, let other people help, let God give you strength.

If you will do these three things, you will find yourself developing the attitude of Micah. Micah
was an Old Testament prophet and he went through a period of despair and he said this: I'm
overwhelmed with sorrow, sunk in a swamp of despair. But me, I'm not giving up. I'm sticking
around to see what God will do. I'm waiting for God to make things right.

Prayer:

Father, I pray for those here today who feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with
responsibilities, time demands, deadlines, weighed down by worries, plagued by problems.
Help them to experience new strength and energy today.

Now you pray. Follow me ion this prayer in your heart, in your mind. Father, I know I
need to stop trying to control the uncontrollable. Its a waste of time. So right now, once
again, I'm letting go. I'm asking You to take charge of the situation and take control of my
life. Jesus, I need You in my life. Forgive me for all the times I act like it all depends on
me. It doesnt. Help me to let go of my pride and allow other people to help me. I want to
be connected to Your family so I can receive support and I can give it to others. Help me to
remember to praise You and to think about Your word when I feel overwhelmed. In Jesus
name. Amen.