Overwhelmed

Typically, the word overwhelmed carries such negative connotations.

I’m overwhelmed with work.

I’m overwhelmed by finances.

My kids’ needs overwhelm me.

Yesterday, the word transformed into something that I embraced and hope to encounter more often.

Yesterday, I was overwhelmed with kindness.

I was overwhelmed with love.

I was overwhelmed by God’s blessings.

As I celebrated my birthday with my younger son, I realized how much joy I garner from this day and how much joy he exudes in the same way. The constant messages and well wishes put a pep in my step and the surprise treats made me feel extra special.

I was overwhelmed.

It got me thinking – how often do I choose to diminish things that could otherwise overwhelm me in a beautifully enriching way? Shouldn’t I spend all of my days overwhelmed by God’s provisions?

The sad truth is I don’t.

I spend far more days overwhelmed by what I feel are burdens than what are obvious blessings. This is not how God intended us to live! God promises to care for us and in that promise he does not justify the hows or the whys – he simply proclaims He will.

Matthew 6 : 26-34 (NIV)
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As I enter the second day of my thirty-fourth year, I’m doing so overwhelmed and it is my prayer that each day from this point forward leaves me the same way. I want to be overwhelmed by the beauty in the sunrise and the laughter of a child. I want to be overwhelmed by the clear blue sky and the love of a stranger.
I want to spend my days overwhelmed in the beautifully perfect way God intended.

Overwhelm me, O Lord and open my eyes to the treasures you’ve placed in front of me. Allow me to bask in the promise that you will care for me and let none of my earthly woes overpower that knowledge.

I want to be overwhelmed by you, God.