Are you feeling overwhelmed today?

David knew what that felt like. He lived much of his life in hiding, even going to live with the enemy because of fear of what Saul would do to him, and in the Psalms, we see him even admitting this: "...when my heart is overwhelmed..." (Ps. 61:2 NKJV)

So what did David suggest? "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings." (Ps. 61:2c-4 NKJV)

There is nothing better than going to the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ: "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." (Ps. 18:2 NKJV)

This is beautiful imagery, but just how does one "go" to the "Rock"?

The first clue comes from Ps. 61:2. Here David says, "Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." (NKJV)

In David's words, he is crying out to God, praying for God to attend to his prayer, and interestingly, he is asking God to lead him to the rock. In other words, we can't get there on our own, we need to be led!

I doubt this is surprising to you. When you are in the midst of whatever overwhelming circumstances encircle you today, it seems so impossible to just "dump" it all in Jesus' lap. In order to do so, we must do something: We must cry out to the Lord, we must ask Him to lead us to the rock!

But leading would indicate that we must also follow; and this is still all so abstract. When we are surrounded with the darkness and fear that accompany our deep circumstances, it is difficult to follow where God will lead. Here is a little exercise that I find helpful. As you go through it, you will experience how focusing on the bigness and vastness of God will cause our own problems to diminish in our sight, thus making it easy to allow God to lead us to the rock.

Step one: Pray and ask God to help you focus on His Word.

Step two: Prayerfully read the following words line by line. Meditate upon them, see them in your mind's eye and contemplate the visual images they conjure up:

"The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.

The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everyone says, 'Glory!'" (Ps. 29:3-9 NKJV)

Step three: Ask yourself the following question: The Lord, the Almighty God, full of strength and power and glory, the One who can do all this, is He too small to handle your circumstance?

Step four: Believe that no matter what it may seem, God is truly in the midst of your circumstances. Read verse 10:

"The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood,
And the Lord sits as King forever." (Ps. 29:10 NKJV)

This tells us that the same all powerful God sits "enthroned at the Flood" as "King forever"! The Lord Almighty is already sitting in the midst of your circumstances!

Step five: Meditate on the final verse of Ps. 29:

"The Lord will give strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace." (Ps. 29:11 NKJV)

Remember: The God who can do all of the above, the Lord who is sitting in the midst of your circumstances, "will give strength to His people...will bless His people with peace"!

Are you feeling a bit less overwhelmed? It is because God just led you to the rock that is higher than your circumstnces!

Remember this little exercise the next time you are feeling overwhelmed. That Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ, is always there, always sitting in the middle of our circumstances, always wanting to give us strength and peace!

In His love,
Lyn


Lynona Gordon Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author -- "Aboard God's Train -- A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer", Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.