When You’re Overwhelmed

Are you facing a personal crisis right now? Maybe it’s a lack of employment. Maybe it’s a foreclosure on your home or a loss in your investments. Maybe your marriage is falling apart or you have a son or daughter who is away from the Lord. Maybe you have a life-threatening illness. Or maybe you’re paralyzed by fear as you think about an uncertain future.

When we’re facing a crisis, we like to have a backup plan. Then we like to have a backup plan for the backup plan. Then we have a backup plan for the backup plan for the backup plan. But sometimes the Lord will allow us to be in a set of circumstances where there are no backup plans. There is no safety net. There is no way out but Him.

In Acts, chapter 12, that is what we see the early church facing. Things were looking very bleak. Herod had put James to death, and then he arrested Peter. If God did not come through for him, it would be a complete disaster. So what did the believers do? They prayed.

Philippians 4:6–7 tells us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

And David wrote, “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” (Psalm 61:1–2).

God promises that He will give us a peace that passes understanding, but not necessarily a peace that always will give understanding. When you are overwhelmed, pray.